Monica Lewinsky and Reformation Really Want You to Vote

In Reformation's "You’ve Got the Power” campaign, Monica Lewinsky encourages any apathetic voters to get back out there just in time for 2024.

By Audra Heinrichs  |  February 26, 2024 | 3:54pm
Photos: Shutterstock/Kathy Hutchins; Reformation Celebrities
Monica Lewinsky and Reformation Really Want You to Vote

Between President Biden’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the pervasive passage of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, it’s not difficult to understand why people across the country—young and old—are hardly energized to vote this November. If that’s you, fortunately, capitalism and one of the few remaining national treasures might just have you covered on the excitement front.

On Monday, Reformation launched its voting-centric “You’ve Got the Power” workwear campaign starring none other than Monica Lewinsky and some very chic suits.

“She is a bullseye for the Ref archetype—smart, funny, sexy—and a walking embodiment of what it means to embrace your power,” Lauren Caris Cohan, Reformation’s chief creative officer, told Harper’s Bazaar of the campaign. “It was also really exciting from a creative standpoint to partner with her on her first fashion campaign. We wanted to create something fresh and emotional, but still very true to who she is as a woman.”

In the campaign in collaboration with Vote.org, Lewinsky is seen, well, looking very powerful in a series of office-like tableaus. My personal favorite? The Didion-esque sunglasses shot where Lewinsky is clutching a “Monica” handbag.

It’s not all sartorial, though. The campaign is complete with guides to ensure anyone who encounters it actually registers to vote. Reformation, I’ll note, has already given $25,000 to Vote.org. For a brand that sells some of the simplest silhouettes I’ve ever seen for no less than $100, one might think they’d have a bit more to spare. But, hey, good for them!

Cohan said that it was Lewinsky’s TED talk on public shaming, that convinced her she would be the ideal face of the campaign. To Elle, Lewinsky said she’s interested in finding new ways of empowering women–particularly online, a historically disempowering place. Some advice? She’s pro-blocking, anti-reading the comments, and thinking twice and thrice about what one posts and how it might land.

“I may make all sorts of comments about policy or someone’s choice of behavior, but I will not repost a picture, even if I loathe that person, where they’re making fun of someone’s appearance, because I just think that it doesn’t contribute to me as a person,” Lewinsky told the magazine. “I try to be mindful. Now, my drafts folder might be a whole other story.” Forever a relatable queen!

As for civic engagement, Lewinsky was emphatic about participation in 2024 despite justifiable lethargy.

“We’ve seen in polls that voter frustration is up and apathy is up,” Lewinsky said. “We all have to be reminding each other that we can’t let that get in the way of needing to vote, that that’s how we use our voice. That’s where our power is.”

Is it? Hell if I know. I will take this trench though.

 
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