How Putin’s US$14,000 coat, Zelensky’s green T-shirts and Macron’s air force hoodie send a message to the world
- Vladimir Putin’s Loro Piana jacket and Kiton jumper, which he wore to a recent rally, were designed by their sheer cost to cement his strongman status at home
- In stark contrast, Volodymyr Zelensky’s combat gear, worn since the invasion began, evokes the feeling that he is sharing in his nation’s pain as an equal
When Vladimir Putin wore a puffer jacket costing 25 times the average monthly salary in Russia to a pro-war rally in the country on March 18, his choice was about a lot more than just warmth.
He paired the US$14,000 Loro Piana coat with a US$3,000 roll-neck jumper by another Italian brand, Kiton, in a move that would mean political suicide in many countries – but which was designed by its sheer cost to cement his strongman status at home.
It also includes this telling quote from Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele: “In a patriarchal society, masculine gender-identity is often moulded by violently toxic stereotypes …
“It’s time to celebrate a man who is free to practise self-determination, without social constraints, without authoritarian sanctions, without suffocating stereotypes.”
Unsurprisingly, the political leaders who currently hold the globe’s future in their hands tend to dress on the more masculine side of the fashion spectrum.