Andre Soriano, a bridal and eveningwear designer, has been grabbing headlines this week not for wedding gowns but for his presidential campaign signs.
The self-described “Trumpster” has been notified by local officials in Occoquan, Va., that his 11 pro-Donald Trump signs need to come down from the exterior of his building. Soriano occupies the first two floors of a four-floor building with his store on the ground-floor and his residence on the second floor. The designer said he had put the signs up more than three months ago. Located about 25 miles from Washington D.C. and home to 1,100 residents, the small town “is very cute and very Americana,” Soriano said in an interview Wednesday.
He said that a woman walked into the store, asked for him and said she was offended by his Trump signs, flags and dress. The designer, who had created a gown imprinted with the Trump-inspired slogan “Make America Great Again” for the 2017 Grammys for Joy Villa, claimed that she also started crying and called the police, while his friend filmed the exchange. “I was thinking, ‘Is this really happening in America? Am I really experiencing a ‘Karen,’ who has come to my store to complain about this? What happened to the freedom of me [being able to] express myself as an individual in America?”
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Soriano said after the individual, whose name he never asked, complained to town officials, he was told to remove them. He then placed a “Women for Trump” sign in his store window, which spared him a violation, Soriano said. However, the 10 other signs that he had moved to inside the second floor were not in sync with the town’s ordinance that the signs not exceed 8 feet x 8 feet on residential properties. “The thing here that’s fascinating is why now? I have had those signs for a while. Why didn’t they tell me a long time ago?”
But Occaquan’s chief of police Adam Linn, who also serves as the town manager, said that the woman had been invited in by Soriano’s mother. Linn also claimed that Soriano had received “a courtesy e-mail” 10 days ago informing him that the temporary sign needed to be removed or a notice of violation would be issued. Soriano replaced them with an 8-foot x 8-foot banner, which exceeds the up to eight-square-foot limit, Linn said. “It’s content-neutral regulations. Therefore, it does not violate the First Amendment. In this case, it violates the size, material and the placement in a historic district,” Linn said, adding that if the banner is not removed by Thursday, a violation will be issued.
Born in the Philippines, the 54-year-old designer moved to the U.S. at the age of 15 and became a U.S. citizen the following year, he said. “I don’t really care if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. I do care about being an American. Let me exercise my First Amendment right,” he said. “Everyone has the right to put up their [Kamala] Harris signs, ‘Black Lives Matter’ signs or whatever their preferred sign is. That’s the America that I know. America is great that way.”
By appearing on the reality design show “Styled to Rock!” more than a decade ago, he connected with the musician Rihanna, and started working with celebrities and private clients. But many stopped working with him after the 2017 Grammys. “They hate me, because I am a Trump supporter. I don’t understand that. My mother moved to the United States in 1983 to live a better life than in the Philippines — to live with freedom. She became a citizen,” he said.
Previously based in Los Angeles, Soriano and his late partner Thomas Brown relocated to Occoquan more than two years ago and plans to stay. “I’m just exercising my freedom of speech and they are attacking me. It’s just so surreal.”
Suggesting that “our point of view of America changes all the time,” Soriano said that he had voted for Barack Obama and later for Trump. Busy preparing for “the Glitz and Glamour Charity gala” on Nov. 22 that will benefit We Will Survive Cancer and Children’s Hospital, he said he hasn’t consulted with advisers about any potential legal action related to the removal of the signs.
He is also creating a “First Ladies of the United States” collection. Soriano said, “I’m a designer for all people — not just for Republicans. I came to America loving this country. The Democrats on the left are shoving me aside, because I don’t agree with what they want. This is not the America I knew, when we first moved here.”
He added, “I just love this country. I wish that everyone gets along. I have no ill intent to make anyone upset. I love this great nation that gave me these opportunities. I hate what’s going on in our country. They’re trying to make us all fight,” he said.
