Harris-Walz Camo Hat Goes Viral, But Is It a Sign of Bigger Things? – National
Move, MAGA Hats:Governor Tim Walz The camouflage cap has entered the debate and is quickly becoming the hottest fashion accessory of the summer, with the potential to reverse Donald Trump’s stranglehold on election clothing from meme to merchandise.
When US Vice President Kamala Harris introduced Walz as his running mate On Tuesday, she celebrated her choice with an Instagram video inspired by a dating reality show that showed her placing a call to Walz, who answered the call from his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, wearing khaki pants and his usual camouflage hat.
“I would be honored, Madam Vice President,” Walz responded, accepting the invitation to become the official Democratic vice presidential nominee.
Immediately, the Midwestern dad and former high school football coach generated what seemed like a thousand memes, with followers comparing him to the hottest pop star of the moment and his fellow Midwesterner, Chappell Roanwho sells a similar hat to fans.
In a nimble move, easily proving they can keep pace with internet culture, the Harris-Walz campaign was I am selling an official camouflage print hat in the Harris Victory Fund online store less than 12 hours later, displaying the text “Harris Walz” in hunter orange.
The item description read: “You asked, we answered. The most iconic political hat in America.
Roan herself noticed the rapid change shortly after, posting an image of the hats’ side-by-side comparison with the caption, “Is this real(?)”
That’s right. The campaign confirmed to Teen Vogue that the hats made by the union sold its first 3,000 hats Within 30 minutes. By Thursday afternoon, sales of the $40 hat were approaching $2 million.
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“They sold 25,000 hats in a matter of hours,” Mitch Cahn, president and founder of Unionwear, the company that makes all of the Harris-Walz campaign merchandise, told Women’s Wear Daily of the sales surge.
“We were completely surprised by this“We’ve been in business for 32 years. We’ve never had a case where we made a sample in the morning and the next morning they had sold a million dollars’ worth of hats,” he said.
“We’ve been making this camo hat for years for hunters and Midwesterners. The idea that this hat would appeal to Chappell Roan fans and Midwestern hunters is probably why the campaign chose it, because it has such broad appeal and brings people together,” Cahn continued. “Obviously, the sales, demand and excitement for this hat speaks for itself.”
FILE – Tim Walz has long been sporting his camouflage hat. Here he is, in 2016, addressing a crowd at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call
Cahn also noted to USA Today that while his Unionwear hasn’t made any products for the Trump campaign in the last two election cycles, they were responsible for the first run of the now instantly recognizable red “Make America Great Again” hats in 2016. The initial demand for Kamala-Walz hats, he said, exceeds initial demand for MAGA hats at that time.
When a campaign hat is more than a merchandising product
A camouflage hat seems like a natural and strategic choice for the campaign store — Walz has long touted his hunting abilities, and Harris’ campaign strategy surely seeks to amplify Walz’s quintessentially Midwestern personality to appeal to rural voters and Americans living in swing states.
Derek Guy, the fashion journalist and “menswear expert” behind the ubiquitous X account @dieworkwear, notes that capitalizing on Walz’s penchant for casual dressing is a smart strategy for Democrats.
“This is where Walz has a fashionable — or perhaps usefully unfashionable — advantage:With his flannel-lined LL Bean barn coats, scuffed work boots and woodland camouflage caps, Walz is one of the few politicians who looks normal in the kind of unpretentious clothes many voters prefer to wear themselves,” Guy noted in a piece for Politico.
“The choice to put Walz in casual attire and introduce Woodsman camouflage campaign merchandise shortly after the announcement suggests that the Harris team is keenly aware of how Clothing impacts governor’s brand image.”
Guy also notes that Walz has the advantage of authenticity on his side, unlike some politicians who seem to embody various roles when they dress more casually for more relaxed events: “His hunting outfits don’t look contrived. because he is a real hunter.”
Not everyone is impressed by the introduction of the camouflage hat. Randy Kozuch, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, told the Washington Post that “a camouflage hat can’t disguise the fact that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are Radicals who seize weapons who support the confiscation of firearms from hunters and law-abiding gun owners.
Walz, though a hunter, has spent much of his political career advocating for stricter gun laws, and as governor he signed a bill that would require universal background checks and a red flag law.
Emily L. Newman, a professor of art history and liberal studies at Texas A&M University in Commerce, argues that the viral hat, combined with the Walz persona the campaign is leveraging, lends credibility to Walz’s fight for gun regulation.
“I thought it was a excellent campaign move “He wants to capitalize on what Walz brings to the campaign, which is that Midwestern sensibility,” Newman told the Washington Post. “He’s talked about his passion for hunting, but he’s also a strong advocate for gun control, so it’s a great thing for Democrats to showcase that.”
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