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Roula Khalaf, editor-in-chief of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Donald Trump cannot, in good conscience, be described as a classy man. He is not “sartorially elegant,” as fashion designer Tom Ford said of the current US president. It is neither trendy nor traditionally elegant. But is Donald Trump a style icon?
That’s what a sycophantic former aide, Stephen Miller, claimed during an appearance on Fox News last week — an appearance for which he was widely criticized. Miller had apparently been angered by a New York Times article that praised the “timeless” style of “dapper” Joe Biden. He exclaimed: “Mr. Biden gives flippant masterclasses in wardrobe tricks that distract from the inevitable predations of time.” »
Miller fired back. “The most stylish president and first lady in our lifetime are Donald Trump and Melania Trump. Donald Trump is a style icon! he said – or rather shouted – to Fox anchor and Trump ally Sean Hannity. “He changed American fashion by The apprentice — people spent the next ten years trying to dress like Donald Trump! So if anyone deserves an article about their sense of style, it’s Donald Trump and the First Lady.”
The idea that Trump “changed American fashion” when he hosted The apprentice is patently absurd. People didn’t spend the next ten years trying to “dress like Trump,” and they never did, either. Even his most die-hard fans, who might have Trump slogans on their clothes, don’t tend to dress in oversized, out-of-date navy blue suits and TOO-long ketchup-colored ties.
And yet, there has surely never been a more successful commodity in American political history than the ubiquitous red “Make America Great Again” cap sported by both Trump and his legions of followers. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, wrote in his memoir that sales of these caps were worth as much as $80,000 a day during Trump’s first campaign in 2016, financing “most of the company’s overhead costs.” campaign “. And Trump said last year that he’d sold almost 2 million of them in total — that’s, of course, just the official copies at $50 each (you can buy unofficial ones for a few dollars).
So, what is a style icon? According to Vogue, this is a person “whose fashion sense is instantly recognizable”; someone who “never strayed” from his look, “staying away from the hottest fashion trends.” . . in favor of a more individualistic approach to clothing. I would add an additional criterion: someone who is confident in their choices and who gives the impression of not having tried too hard.
Trump is all of these. He stayed away from the hottest fashion trends. In fact, he’s been dressing the same way and mopping his linen mop in that same windproof hair hat since the 1980s. When I went to a Halloween party dressed as Sarah Palin a while ago, I had to stick pieces of paper on my jacket with funny things she had said on them so people would understand (they still haven’t, unfortunately). Dressed as Trump, I would have been unmistakable.
To miss the power and consequences of Trump’s personal brand is to miss a crucial element of his success and appeal. Part of this is about accessibility. Barack Obama – probably the most successful US president since JFK – seemed equally at ease chatting with the elites of Hollywood, Davos or Washington DC: star-studded, expensive, fashionable, out of reach. Trump’s suits, on the other hand, may be made by Italian luxury brand Brioni and cost around $10,000, but the impression they create is this: I’m one of you.
And while being a Trump fan doesn’t necessarily get you respect (or party invitations from coastal elites), it does give you instant, unambiguous gang membership. The strong visuals – caps, yes, but also flags, T-shirts, jackets, bumper stickers, all bearing various jokes, memes and pro-Trump slogans (Let’s Go Brandon; FJB; Jesus Is My King, Trump Is My President , etc.), as well as the famous cliché – are the glue that holds the gang together.
Trump understands the importance of how things appear – rather than how they actually are – like no one else. I was struck by a recent interview he gave about Israel, in which he focused not on the government’s actions but on their appearance: “These…. . . shots of bombs being dropped on buildings in Gaza. . . Oh, it’s a terrible portrait. It’s a very bad image for the world,” he told Israel Hayom.. “Anyone who gives that away, it’s a bad image.”
Trump lives in a televisual world and he is its master. You may not like his “dictator chic” taste in interiors, nor his apparent disregard for decent tailoring. But he probably doesn’t care what you or him New York Times think. Of course, it’s not elegant. But Donald Trump is, I’m afraid, a style icon.
