(AFP) – The race for the US presidency is a nail-biter, so two Kamala Harris supporters have taken matters into their own manicured hands and launched a line of nail polishes themed around viral moments from the Democratic campaign.
“We wanted something that was playful and fun, something that was approachable” for people who are not highly engaged in politics, said Amy Rosenthal, co-founder of “Colors for Kamala.” She wants the brand to provoke “regular human conversations with people who might not agree with you at all about politics, but you know what? They like the same (shade of) red.”
Rosenthal and her partner Kate Friedman came up with a line called “Neutralizing Name-Calling.” Neutral shades called “Bitch,” “Nasty,” and “Have You Heard Her Laugh” are designed to satirize the ways in which Donald Trump has attacked the vice president, his Democratic rival, on the campaign trail. “We wanted to take the sting out of them,” said Rosenthal.
Another series, called the “Joyful Warrior,” contains an apple green called “Kamala Is Brat,” in reference to the Charli XCX album that became a pro-Harris meme. “The Prosecutor” is a tone of orange that brings to mind US prison uniforms, and Harris’s former career as a prosecutor in California. And then there is the classic red “Cat Lady” — a term disparagingly used by Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance to describe childless women, that famously drew ire and mockery from the likes of Taylor Swift.
It’s not the first time that beauty brands have become linked with politics. Firms like e.l.f. Beauty and Benefit Cosmetics announced support for reproductive rights groups when the US Supreme Court stripped federal abortion protections in 2022. In 2020, the Lipslut brand launched its “F*ck Trump” lipstick, with half of all earnings going to civil rights groups.
Rosenthal and Friedman donate all profits to the Harris-Walz campaign. But they hope that just wearing the polishes can become a form of “quiet canvassing.” “I can be walking down the street wearing ‘Bitch,’ and knowing that there are many other women doing the same thing, and feel totally fine and good about it,” she said.
– Paula RAMON
© 2024 AFP
