Over the past few weeks, it seemed like US luxury department store Neiman Marcus could not make up its mind about whether to sell Ivanka Trump's fine jewellery. The brand's baubles disappeared, reappeared and then disappeared again from the store's website.
But now, Neiman Marcus won't have much of a choice.
![Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180419020901im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/b/g/9/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guxdkb.png/1491465072955.jpg)
Trump's brand has discontinued its line of high-end bracelets, necklaces and rings, the company confirmed on Monday. Instead, it will focus on more affordable fashion jewellery, according to Abigail Klem, the president of Trump's brand.
In a statement, Klem attributed the decision to the company's "commitment to offering solution-oriented products at accessible price points". She did not mention Neiman Marcus, or any of the other retailers that had recently backed away from carrying Trump's increasingly politicised products.
The decision to discontinue Trump's fine jewellery line was reported on Friday by Vanity Fair.
Trump's shoes, handbags and clothing lines have become targets for both supporters and detractors of her father, President Donald Trump, in his political rise to the White House.
Many shoppers have rallied behind Grab Your Wallet, a largely grass-roots movement to boycott companies associated with the Trump name. Some companies, like Nordstrom and T.J. Maxx, have pulled back from promoting Ivanka Trump's brand.
After the Nordstrom decision, the president and one of his top advisers, Kellyanne Conway, spoke out in support of the brand. By some indications, sales of Ivanka Trump's products took off since those comments.
![President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180419020901im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/n/i/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guxdkb.png/1489448512307.jpg)
"Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would say," Conway said last month during an interview on Fox News. "I'm going to give a free commercial here: Go buy it today, everybody; you can find it online."
Representatives for Ivanka Trump have said that overall sales of her products increased 21 per cent in 2016 compared with 2015. In a statement, Klem said that February this year saw some of the "best performing weeks in the history of the brand".
Ivanka Trump licenses her name to various partners who manufacture her products. The largest share of her revenue comes from sales of her clothing, followed by shoes and handbags. Fine jewellery has always made up a small percentage of her overall business, according to company documents and interviews with former employees.
Jewellery, however, was Ivanka Trump's first major foray into licensing her name. She partnered with Moshe Lax, a New York-based diamond wholesaler, who helped Ivanka Trump open a retail location on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in 2007. In 2011, her boutique moved to a sprawling store in the city's SoHo neighbourhood. That location, however, was ultimately not profitable enough to stay open and closed in 2015.
More recently, Ivanka Trump's fine jewellery has been sold out of a kiosk in the lobby of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
In the fall, Lord & Taylor began selling Ivanka Trump's fashion jewellery, which is the product of a new licensing partnership, according to a spokeswoman for the brand.
Unlike her diamond-encrusted fine jewellery, items in the fashion jewellery line are aimed at a mass-market audience, with many items priced at less than $US100 ($132).
The company projected to make about $US300,000 ($396,000) in royalty fees in 2016, according to company documents from 2014 that were obtained by The New York Times. Sales were expected to reach about $US7.5 million ($9.9 million) last year.
Ivanka Trump's fine jewellery line consisted of diamond bracelets, rings and necklaces that sold for several thousand dollars apiece, like the $US10,800 ($14,300) bangle she wore on 60 Minutes shortly after her father won the presidential election. When journalists received a "style alert" from Ivanka Trump Fine Jewellery promoting the item, critics pounced on Ivanka Trump, accusing her of using her proximity to the White House to promote her brand.
Klem blamed a "well-intentioned marketing employee" for the mishap, saying that the company was still figuring out how to move forward appropriately post-election.
Ivanka Trump still maintains a financial interest in her namesake brand. But since the election, she has taken steps to distance herself from her business interests.
Ivanka Trump has stepped away from leadership positions at both her brand and at the Trump Organisation, where she served as an executive vice president for development and acquisitions along with her two brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who remain at the company. Klem was put in charge of the Ivanka Trump company. In addition, Ivanka Trump separated her personal and business social media accounts.