“During war, the president is not just a politician, but the supreme commander of the army and civilians under martial law. The classic suit would be perceived as a detachment from the reality of the front,” Gasanova said. “And his clothes help him to keep the world’s attention on the war in Ukraine.”
A suit is a symbol of normality, of stable diplomacy and ordinary negotiations, while Ukraine’s situation is extraordinary.
“The president shows that the war is still going on, that the country is still in a struggle,” Gasanova said.
Yet she admitted that by refusing to go along with sartorial conventions, Zelenskyy poses something of a problem for other leaders.
“The diplomatic world is a world of traditions. And many in Europe and the U.S. would like to see Zelenskyy in a suit so that he looks like everyone else. This would make Ukraine less unique in the information space and would turn the situation with the war into another political conflict. His refusal to wear a suit is a refusal to play by the old rules,” Gasanova added.
Some leaders, like France’s Emmanuel Macron, tried the Zelenskyy look but were roundly mocked. Others, like Trump, wouldn’t be caught dead in combat gear.
