中期选举后的时尚业：关税、消费信心与奢侈品走向

November 5, 2026

The Democrats’ landslide victory in the midterm elections brings the global luxury and fashion sectors to a new juncture as the Democratic Party has flipped control of both the Senate and the House, midway through President Trump’s second term. While the “blue tsunami” has left the current administration downtrodden, the market responded with enthusiasm on Wednesday morning, with the Dow up more than 1,500 points — a 2.8% spike.

To mark the watershed moment, Hildy Kuryk, the interim CEO for the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) joined Nicole Phelps, global director for Vogue Runway and Vogue Business, on stage at the Vogue Business Global Summit: New York on Wednesday in a pop-up session to unpack the result’s potential impact on the global fashion and beauty industries.

The discussion addressed a string of obstacles brought in during the Republican party’s reign, including the 2025 tariffs that wreaked havoc on fashion’s supply chains, followed by the conflict in the Middle East. The latter has pushed up inflation, increased living costs, as well as gas and oil prices, all while heightening macroeconomic instability.

In the months leading up to the elections, consumer sentiment was shaky. In early October, 36% of registered voters cited inflation as the most important issue to them, according to a poll conducted by The Economist and YouGov. This was followed by jobs and the economy, at 11%. Sixty-nine percent of voters said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of inflation, and 44% believed that political conflict had spread too far into everyday life.

And yet, people have been shopping. In fact, many luxury conglomerates and brands — Hugo Boss, Kering, Zegna, and Hermès included — cited the US as bright spot in their latest quarterly earnings. “In particular, the Americas continued its double-digit trend, despite an increasingly demanding comparison base,” executive chair Ermenegildo “Gildo” Zegna said in a statement, noting the company’s 14% growth in the region. Hermès’s growth was led by the Americas, up 8.8% in the third quarter, and Kering’s only growth region was North America.

As sights turn to the 2028 presidential election, here’s what Kuryk said about making sense of the midterms.

Vogue: The CFDA Awards were just two nights ago. Congratulations.

Hildy Kuryk: Then I stayed up way too late last night watching the midterms.

Vogue: We woke up to news of a “blue tsunami”. What do the results tell us about where the US currently stands?

Well, the good news is the market was up this morning. I think that investors are reassured that there could be some calm coming. But I want to be careful. This was a blue wave, but it was not a progressive wave or a moderate wave. It was a Democratic wave — in all of its forms. We saw that Democrats know how to win in the cities. Republicans spent a lot of money redistricting — it didn't work. But Democrats learned how to win in rural areas, which I think is so important. This is a repudiation of the president and of the administration. Voters clearly wanted something different. We have to be careful because America is a 50-50 country, so these wild swings are not necessarily predictive of where the country is.

Vogue: There were a lot of firsts.

So many. We have the first black female governor, Keisha Lance Bottoms; the first Latina governor in Texas, Gina Hinojosa; the first indigenous woman elected governor in Deb Haaland in New Mexico; the first Muslim senator elected now to start in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed; the first openly gay senator, Chris Pappas, in New Hampshire. Louisiana elected its first Republican woman, Julia Letlow; California elected its first Latina governor, Xavier Becerra; and Wisconsin elected its first black governor, David Crowley. I could keep going…

Vogue: Are there any other surprises demographically speaking?

The scale was really big. Look at James Talarico’s margin in Texas. I don’t know how many people here remember the last time we had a Democrat in Texas. It was over 30 years ago. Democrats did not expect to win that big. Expected or not, we have to move forward. How should fashion navigate the new and changing landscape? I think we have to wait and see. Tariffs affected this business in such a major way. The president can still levy tariffs. That does not need congressional approval, as he’s shown us. But I think there’s much more oversight now — for good and bad. I think there will be a lot of hearings, a lot of questions asked. I think that consumers are cautious, more optimistic, and a little calmer. They’re excited, but I think it’s a wait-and-see approach. We have to see how the holidays play out and what this Democratic Congress sets on the agenda in January.

Vogue: All right, let’s talk just a little bit more about the consumer, if we can. What does the election tell us? What message seems to resonate the most?

Affordability. This election, number one: it was against Trump. Number two: it was about affordability. That was the point. He promised to make everything better, and people looked in their bank accounts, their pockets, and at the pump, and everything was worse. I think that affordability will not change. The market is going up, but for those people who are not in the market, their prospects continue to feel scary, so I think people are cautiously optimistic and anxious about prices. So brands need to do even more to reach their consumer directly and show their value to them.

Vogue: There’s a bit of confusion because going into the election consumer sentiment was bad, but yet the economy and spending are up. How can the business people in the room make sense of that?

I think [consumer] sentiment is the median household’s mood. Spending is still [dominated by] the top fifth. Fashion lives in both [percentiles]. Consumer sentiment is near record lows. But North America is still a bright spot. We saw Hermes up 8.8% last quarter. Zegna up 14%. Regardless of the election, we’re making the US a prime market for France for next year.

Vogue: What do you think the knock-on effects of this election will be globally? There’s a lot of big elections coming up in 2027.

Oh yeah, a lot. I think allies are exhaling. I think they’re happy that the American people put a check on this president. I think they’re hoping for a little bit more stability in the last two years of his term. Obviously, the president can do what he wants in Iran, so I think that’s still going to be a major point of instability, especially as it relates to gas prices. But overall, I think sentiment abroad is good.

Vogue: The current administration shaped American industry, particularly in fashion and beauty. How do you think it has impacted it, and how is what happened yesterday likely to change it?

I think it’s going to be about tariffs and production here in the US. This election there were AI [regulatory] measures on the ballot in many, many states, and they [were widely passed]. Many governors who were elected all want an AI data-center moratorium. So I think we will see, at least on the statewide level, a slowdown there. Will that mean a slowdown in manufacturing? Will that have knock-on effects in other industries? It’s a little early to say. It already has a big impact on fashion and beauty businesses. It’ll be interesting to see if that speeds up or slows down. And if there's some more stability in the market, and how businesses react. Are they going to continue to invest in the US as we’ve been hearing ahead of the election, or are they going to pull back? How are we going to invest in retail? I think there’s a lot that we just don’t know yet.

Vogue: How do the results impact how you go about your job at the CFDA, and how do you think it'll impact designers?

We would tell designers that there’s so many programs at the CFDA that we continue to do throughout the year, whether it’s upskilling, whether it’s AI partnerships — trying to help businesses meet the moment they’re in. What we’ve been talking about over the last couple days after the awards and in the lead up to the election is keeping your head down and doing business. Keep talking to your customer. I think this election showed it is a local conversation as much as it is a national one. Don’t let the noise affect you. Just keep your eye on your customer and on your creative work.

Vogue: What does [the results] mean for 2028? I know that the conversations are already starting.

Many people will say the 2028 election starts today. There are two things about 2028 that are interesting. One is what does this do for the Republican party? I think we are not talking about that as much, and we should. Are they the party of Trump anymore? What kind of hold does MAGA have on the future of the party? What does this say about Vice President [JD] Vance and his chances for 2028? I think he was hoping to be the heir apparent. If this is a repudiation of his administration and his policies, what does he have to do?

On the other side, Hakeem Jeffries has a bigger margin than he probably thought he would. There have been a lot of conversations about the new progressive members who are coming. But for candidates in 2028, the biggest thing Democrats have to do is show that they are making Americans’ lives better. That is it. They have to show up for the American people and make their lives better. Otherwise, they’ve done nothing.

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