Vice President Kamala Harris champions Black designer for inauguration look

Her choice of clothes was meaningful, from the necklace to the shoes.

January 20, 2021, 2:10 PM

Vice President Kamala Harris started her new role with a sophisticated and meaningful look.

As she was sworn in as the first woman vice president of the United States, as well as the first Black and first South Asian vice president, she wore a matching tailored purple coat and dress, along with a pair of black heels.

NYC-based designer Christopher John Rogers created Harris' dress and coat combo and thanked her for the opportunity on Instagram.

"Thank you, Madam Vice President," Christopher John Rogers wrote in an Instagram post. "We are so honored and humbled to have played a small part in this historic moment."

Harris' look was completed with a pearl necklace, which has been a longstanding signature accessory for Harris.

"Pearls symbolize our founders, and pearls symbolize the elegance of women, but also pearls are formed in oysters and oysters come from irritation. They represent resilience, and that's who we are as Alpha Kappa Alpha women," Jill Louis, a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority at Harris' alma mater, Howard University, told Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America."

Many women across the nation have also come together to wear pearls to honor Harris' historic win.

Kamala Harris is sworn in as Vice President by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband Doug Emhoff holds the Bible during the 59th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 20, 2021.
Andrew Harnik/AP

Other fashion-forward moments from this year's Inauguration Day include first lady Jill Biden's custom blue ensemble, Lady Gaga's head-turning couture look and Michelle Obama's stylish monochrome magenta suit, which was also designed by Hudson.

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