Monica Lewinsky parodies politics in a campaign by the fashion brand Reformation

“Voting is using your voice to be heard and it is the most defining aspect of our democracy,” says Monica Lewinsky on the website of Reformation, the Californian fashion company whose latest campaign she stars in.

The brand, born as a vintage

clothing company

in Los Angeles in 2009, explains on its page the reason for choosing Lewinsky: “Monica has been empowering women for a long time to use their voices and feel powerful.

So it makes sense that she would help us do the same.

And while a good outfit won't fix everything, putting it on and going to the polls is a good starting point.”

Everything is part of an action by the brand and the organization that encourages registration to vote Vote.org, to call citizens to action and achieve a large turnout to the polls in the next US presidential elections, which will take place next November 5th.

The activist, born in San Francisco 50 years ago, went down in history at the age of 22, when she worked as an intern in the White House and it was revealed that she had had sexual encounters in the Oval Office with the then president, Democrat Bill Clinton, who was 51 years old at the time.

Clinton had been accused of sexual harassment by Paula Jones and the case ended in

impeachment.

A report by prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who led the independent commission that sought to impeach the president, brought to light her relationship with Lewinsky, and during the trial Clinton denied having had sexual encounters with her in the White House.

One of the crucial pieces of evidence in the case was precisely a blue dress from the American company Gap with semen stains from the politician that Lewinsky had kept.

The young woman went through a media storm and public humiliation, she went to study psychology in London and has focused on activism against harassment and

bullying

.

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What is it about Reformation, the brand that everyone is talking about?

That Lewinsky reappears now with a campaign like Reformation's does not seem like a coincidence.

“People have been hoarding and telling my part in this story for decades.

In fact, until these last few years I have not been able to completely recover my narrative;

almost 20 years later,” the activist wrote in

Vanity Fair

in 2019, when she explained why she was going to produce the third season of the series

American Crime Story,

by Ryan Murphy, in which Beanie Feldstein got into her skin. .

It has not been the only time in which she has wanted to give her version of her story: in 2021 Lewinsky also co-produced a documentary, In

15 Minutes of Shame

(15 minutes of shame) about her story.

“Imagine waking up one day with everyone talking about you because your secret, that mistake you made, has now been made public.

Believe me: I know what I'm talking about.

I was patient zero, that woman who lost her reputation because of the internet.

And it wasn't going to be the last,” her voice said in her

voiceover

as the documentary started.

The Reformation campaign takes up the idea of ​​recovering the narrative: now, instead of hiding her clothes, Lewinsky wears them proudly.

In the Instagram

post

she shared to publicize the campaign, she reads: “@monica_lewinsky and @votedotorg are here to remind you that you have the power.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Reformation (@reformation)

“Voting is always important, but the stakes are high this year as voter frustration and apathy threaten to significantly impact turnout.

I'm excited and grateful to work with Reformation to remind people to register, use their voice, and vote!

A Ref woman is an empowered woman, and an empowered woman uses her voice,” Lewinsky explained in statements to

Variety

.

The campaign images show a confident Lewinsky, posing against a gray background or in front of the glass windows of a building surrounded by skyscrapers.

“With strong silhouettes, elegant tailoring and our exclusive sustainable fibers, our new collection is here to remind you that you have the power,” her signature on her website underlines.

Lewinsky, in the Mikol dress (left) and in the Caiden two-piece set by Reformation.Reformation

It is not the first impactful campaign that Reformation has presented.

In 2018, her wedding dress collection went viral, starring a couple of lesbian models, Erika and Heather, who were also a couple in real life;

In their ads they wanted to talk about breastfeeding in public and also about the importance of sustainability in their project.

“We make everything with low-impact materials, rescued fabrics and repurposed

vintage

clothing (...) We know all our partners so we can answer the question of who made our clothes at each level of the supply chain and ensure environmental impacts and positive social aspects in our garments,” they emphasize on their website.

That message has resonated with many celebrities: Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Karlie Kloss, Alexa Chung and Chloë Grace Moretz are some of the famous people who have worn clothing from the brand, which for

The New York Times

is “the eco brand that cool girls choose

.”

Now their new mantra seems to be that cool

girls

vote.

Two images from the Reformation campaign