The 2021 presidential inauguration was full of high-key fashion moments, from Michelle Obama’s plum wide-leg pants and oversized belt to Jill Biden’s Oscar de la Renta floral ensemble. Another look that caught significant attention: Vice President Kamala Harris’ great-nieces, Amara and Leela, making a statement in furry leopard coats.
The daughters of Kamala’s niece, Meena Harris, are clearly very close with their great-aunt — and they’ve won over America’s heart as we’ve gotten to know them. Their level of cuteness on stage at the election victory party actually hurt.
It turns out this duo’s iconic miniature coats were made by an Oakland-based designer Sydney Hawes as a way to pay tribute to Harris family nostalgia under the label iloveplum, a children’s clothing startup. Meena Harris — a San Francisco-based lawyer and CEO of Phenomenal, a “female-powered lifestyle brand that brings awareness to causes” — posted a precious photo of her daughters clad in the coats with the caption: “Special Coats to look just like Auntie’s” alongside a childhood photo of Kamala Harris in a similar ensemble.
The Bold Italic chatted with designer Hawes to learn more about how the project came to be, how it felt to see Amara and Leela wearing her creations, and what it means to see a fellow Oakland woman in the White House.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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The Bold Italic: I’m sure the last few weeks have been a wild ride—how are you feeling?
Sydney Hawes: Overwhelmed! With happiness, shock, excitement, love. My heart is so full. This is the epitome of goals as a designer.
When were you approached to design for Meena Harris’ daughters? How did this relationship begin?
Iloveplum has a light relationship with the girls from public relations gifting and other avenues. We reached out to Meena around New Year’s and asked if we could pitch an idea for the inauguration and she said yes! So we went into brainstorming immediately.
Did you have the planned concept from the beginning for Amara and Leela to recreate the picture of Kamala Harris from childhood? If not, where did your inspiration come from?
When you create a pitch like this, you sit and brainstorm and spitball for hours. Our founder, Alexia Panza, our sourcing director, Susan Trotiner-Conway, and myself met and met again. Finally, we whittled down to a couple concepts we thought were okay. Right as we were about to move to the next phase, I found that photo of young Kamala. I threw it into our meeting chat and said “Should we just make this coat???” and we immediately forgot all other concepts. It was so perfect. The future and the past coming together in this monumental moment.
How was designing for the girls different from other projects you have worked on?
The biggest difference was timeline, which in this case became the reason why I made them myself. Usually, we design concepts and work with sample rooms or production companies to produce the design. But this time we had four days to make them — the only realistic way to do it was me making them. I drafted the patterns, cut a prototype to test, and then cut, sewed, and shipped those coats by hand!
Were there any challenges you faced in getting this entire creation together in time for the big day?
Yes. Three and a half days to make two coats from scratch is not easy. I pretty much sewed a marathon. I was so nervous that I just went into autopilot. It reminded me of my college final projects — sewing them all night up to the last minute before class. I was one snap button short with 45 minutes until the last FedEx truck left, so I was literally sewing those coats in my car with minutes to spare! It was wild! I have to give a special shout out to my husband for driving two hours to the store to buy me more fabric when I realized I was running out.
How did it feel to see Amara and Leela wearing the coats on Inauguration Day?
We didn’t know whether they would for sure wear them, so it was suspenseful. I got up in the dark around 6 a.m. and turned on the TV to see if we could catch a glimpse of any sign. We all waited nervously and watched. Suddenly as the church started to let out, I saw majestic Meena in her emerald look, and there it was! A tiny little spotted arm holding Meena’s hand! I started screaming and probably woke up the whole neighborhood. I had no idea how big it was going to get through… that shot of Kamala walking her nieces to the White House? I still get chills thinking about that. That is probably going in a textbook someday.
As an Oakland woman, what does Kamala Harris’ ascent mean to you?
There is so much to say here and I don’t know if I can even put words to it. It fills my heart and soul to know that Amara, Leela, and every other little girl from Jan. 20, 2021, forward will know that they too can do what Kamala has done. It is the future that we all need, a future that has balance and equality. I am far past my little girl years, but I too feel inspired by watching that glass ceiling shatter. Inside both coats, the label reads: “This coat is One of a Kind, just like you.” I aspire to inspire our next generations just like Kamala.
PICTURE OF SYDNEY HAWES (her Instagram)
