How Kamala Harris’s Design Team Turned Tim Walz’s Favorite Accessory Into a Million-Dollar Idea

With Vice President Kamala Harrisher announcement that she would pick Minnesota governor Tim Walz As her running mate in this November’s election, there has been a lot of excitement online about his history as a high school football coach, music lover and often-dressed father. hunter camouflage pattern Usually performed by Realtree and a bright orange vest that stands out. IN video During the call where Harris invited Walz to join the campaign, he even wore a camouflage hat.

An internal campaign design team—the same team responsible for Cup featured a young photo of the second gentleman Doug Emhoff—took note and used it as an opportunity to ride another trend cycle. Late Tuesday, a camouflage hat that read “Harris Walz” (with union and American-made certification) arrived at campaign websiteA Philadelphia printer made a large number of them for the Walz family to wear to the protest that night. Walz posted a photo of himself beaming with his new hat, and he posted it to his social media accounts with an appropriate dad joke.

According to the campaign, the team designed the hat at noon, completed the prototype by 1:30 p.m., and sold out the first 3,000 hats in just 30 minutes. Many pre-orders were taken, and so far they have raised about $1 million for the campaign.

Walz’s history as a hunter was a clear part of his appeal to Harris, and she mentioned it at the rally while pointing to his policy integrity. “Tim is a hunter and a gun owner who believes, like the vast majority of gun owners, that we need sensible gun safety laws in America,” she said. she speaks“So as governor, he expanded background checks and increased penalties for illegal gun sales.”

But the accessory also has another cultural significance. Fans of the pop star Chappell Roan noticed that the new hat has quite a few similarities with the “Midwest Princess” hat. available in her gift shophas become an indispensable item on the streets of New York since her meteoric rise to fame. Last month, the campaign was ready and eager to join the movement and have a “kid’s summer”, and now they’re joining the year’s other big pop trend.

It comes amid a larger reconfiguration of an icon most associated with rural America. Roan’s hat is part hat that reflects the singer’s upbringing in a small town in Missouri, but it has a cult status that reflects The recent popularity of camouflage on the high fashion runway. She’s not the only musician making hunter camouflage—Morgan Wallen To be a special fanand early this summer Megan Moroney did as perjust to name two—but Roan tried to make it polite and quirky.

Although there have been many the revival of camouflage Throughout history, this is notable for its focus on the Realtree, a pattern beloved by modern-day hunters. Invented by hunters and outfitters Jordan Bill in 1986Realtree prints overlay realistic images of tree branches, leaves, and twigs to create a three-dimensional effect that can change to suit different terrains and times of year. In stark contrast to the fire engine red of the MAGA hat, the Realtree camouflage pattern has a much more subtle appeal.

In response to Walz’s selection and his wearing of the hat, some conservatives said it seemed inauthentic. “Forcing someone to wear a camouflage hat doesn’t make them a moderate or appealing to Republicans,” Meghan McCain say in a social media post. “No one is that stupid.”

Harris’ campaign is still moving forward with the merchandise, however, and on Wednesday, the rocker Justin Vernon, who plays Bon Iver, already worn wearing a camouflage cap as he performed at a rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Ultimately, it was evidence that the campaign was pinning its hopes on something: The signs of red and blue America are no longer as clear as they once were.