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Bernie Sanders’s Meme-Worthy Inauguration Coat Is Selling Out

Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US President.
Senator Bernie Sanders sits in the bleachers on Capitol Hill before Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US President. Getty/Brendan Smialowki. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI)

The indelible image of Bernie Sanders bundled up in a jacket and mittens at the US presidential inauguration didn’t just spawn memes around the world — it also led to a massive spike in sales.

Burton Snowboards, the Vermont outerwear company that made the coat the senator wore at Joe Biden’s inauguration, said its website has been inundated with visitors in the past few days. Sales of the Edgecomb down jacket on Wednesday were more than double that of the previous 17 days combined, and the specific color worn by Sanders has sold out.

Viewers worldwide seized on Sanders’s amusingly pragmatic outfit as the latest example of his “grumpy chic” aesthetic — leading to a popular meme showing manipulated images of him sitting in other locations. The style has caught the attention of designer fashion labels, and a 2017 collection from European brand Balenciaga riffed on his campaign logo.

As Burton sold its jackets, the woman who made the senator’s mittens was inundated with orders too. Jen Ellis, the Vermont teacher who gifted Sanders the mittens years ago, told disappointed shoppers Wednesday night that she had already sold out.

By Kim Bhasin

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