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stated on July 5, 2020 in a Facebook post:

Says Melania Trump’s dress at Mount Rushmore speech was designed from “drawings of several young victims of sex trafficking.”

President Donald Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, step off Marine One as they arrive at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Friday, July 3, 2020, near Keystone, S.D. (AP)

By Tom Kertscher July 6, 2020

No, first lady’s dress was not designed from drawings by sex trafficking survivors

If Your Time is short

People on social media, not "the media," mocked the dress the first lady wore at President Donald Trump’s rally near Mount Rushmore.
The dress was not designed based on the drawings of young people who had been sex trafficked.

See the sources for this fact-check

The dress Melania Trump wore to Mount Rushmore for a controversial speech her husband delivered on the eve of Independence Day drew a bit of criticism of its own.

But a Facebook user who defended the first lady’s fashion choice in a July 5 post suggested the dress had more meaning than critics knew:

"The media mocked First Lady Melania’s dress. They said it looked like childish scribbles. Little did they know, they were the drawings of several young victims of sex trafficking who tried to explain their pain through pictures. They mocked her raising awareness for the victims of sex trafficking. This deserves 100,000 shares!"

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The white and black dress is designed by Alexander McQueen. The designer’s website describes it as "dancing girls asymmetric midi dress," a sleeveless, round neck ivory linen and listed at $3,840.

Instagram posts

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Mitch McConnell’s sister-in-law who drowned in a Tesla “is listed as the CEO of the company that owns the ship that hit” Baltimore bridge.

Asked about the claim that the sketches on the dress were made by survivors of sex trafficking, a spokesperson for the London-based fashion designer said that story is fabricated: "There is no truth in this statement," Alistair McCallum told PolitiFact.

The design was mocked in some corners of social media by some who said it looked as if it had been doodled by Donald Trump with a Sharpie pen, as reported by several outlets.

PaperMag.com, which covers fashion and entertainment, reported on the dress in May, noting that in 2019 Alexander McQueen enlisted the help of design students at Central Saint Martins, an arts and design school in London, to make its Spring 2020 collection.

"Alexander McQueen gave Paper a behind-the-scenes look at the making of this dress," the article said. "The students' dancing girl sketches were done on long white sheets during a life-drawing class led by fashion illustrator Julie Verhoeven at the brand's flagship store in London."

The school itself also published an article about its collaboration.

There is no evidence the dress was designed by sex trafficking victims. We rate the statement False.