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Melania Trump: From Fashion Model to US First Lady

By May | November 9, 2016

The First Lady of the United States has always played a prominent role in the political and social life of America dating back to the 18th century. Although the role has never been officially defined, she is expected to champion social causes and campaigns, manage the White House and represent the President at official occasions.

So what can America expect from its newest FLOTUS – Melania Trump?

Michelle Obama, has a number of times been named one of the most stylish First Ladies America has had. She has had a very healthy relationship with fashion designers and influencers around the globe, supporting them as she wears their designs.

Vogue US editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, one of the biggest supporters of Obama and his Republican party publicly declared her support for Hillary Clinton, and her magazine has been very critical of Donald Trump’s policies. The fashion industry as a whole, has hugely criticized Donald Trump all through his campaign trail, publicly supporting his opponent.

It’s going to be interesting how this industry is going to accept Melania, since fashion is a huge element of her docket. The former model is no stranger to this industry, she posed for top tier fashion glossies such as GQ, Sports Illustrated and Harper Bazaar during her days as a model. On election night, this morning, she stepped out in a $3,990 white one-shoulder jumpsuit by American designer Ralph Lauren. She also stepped out to vote in a sleeveless white sheath from Michael Kors with a camel Balmain coat draped over her shoulders.

Will all these fashion brands (magazines and clothing labels) which have heavily supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign trail, support the new First Lady, and make her time in the White House as fashionable and stylish as Michelle Obama’s? Or even more? We are watching!

:: Who is Melania?

The Slovenian former model was born in 1970 in communist Yugoslavia, and becomes the first presidential spouse to be born outside the US since Lousia Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, who was born in England.

She is the daughter of Viktor Knavs, a car and motorcycle dealer and a member of the Slovenian Communist Party, and Amalija Knvas – a patternmaker for children’s clothing.

Mrs Trump has one sister, Ines, and an older half-brother she is not believed to have met.

She grew up in an apartment in a concrete tower block in Sevnica and went to the Secondary School of Design and Photography in Ljubljana.

The 46-year-old began her modelling career when she was 16, and at the age of 18 signed with a modelling agency in Milan, Italy.

She has appeared on numerous magazine covers including Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, and once posed naked on a white rug for British magazine GQ. Mrs Trump has her own jewellery and skin care line and speaks five languages – Slovenian, Serbian, English, French and German.

:: How did they meet?

The 5ft 11in former model met Donald Trump at a Fashion Week party in New York in September 1998, when he was separated from his second wife Marla Marples. They were engaged in 2004, and were married in a church ceremony in Florida the following year.

Mrs Trump’s elaborate wedding dress was said to cost more than $100,000 (£81,000) and Hillary and Bill Clinton were among the guests at their reception in Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

In March 2006, she gave birth to their son Barron, who apparently loves wearing a suit and tie and playing golf with his father. Melania Trump got her Green Card in 2001 after moving to the US five years earlier and became a US citizen in 2006, a year after her marriage.

:: What kind of First Lady will she be?

She has insisted she is not shy about giving her husband political advice, despite avoiding the limelight for much of the presidential campaign.

In an interview with CNN, she said: “I give him my opinions, many, many times.

“I don’t agree with everything he says, but, you know, that is normal. I’m my own person, I tell him what I think. And I think that’s very important in a relationship.”

She has stood by her husband after video footage emerged of his boasting about groping women, but made headlines in July after she was accused of plagiarising parts of a speech made by Michelle Obama in 2008.

When asked by The New York Times in 1999 what her role would be if her husband became president, she said she would be “very traditional, like Betty Ford or Jackie Kennedy”.

:: What will her campaign issues be?

Melania Trump has said she will campaign against cyberbullying because she feels the culture on social media has become “too mean and too tough” and is filled with insults based on “looks and intelligence”.

She has also said she would like to see her husband – a prolific user of social media – give up “the Tweeting”.

:: Melania’s Modeling days in pictures