When you're a fashion designer or a fashion house you can refuse to provide outfits for people you don't share your views with: for example, when Melania Trump became First Lady of the United States, a few designers announced they weren't interested in dressing her. Yet, wealthy people can afford to buy whatever they want, and you can't ban them from going into a boutique and buying something from your collection, which means that, when you see them wearing one of your creations, you will get incredibly embarrassed.
This is what happened to Loro Piana when they saw Russia's President Putin last Friday wearing one of their parkas while celebrating the eighth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea at a huge rally at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.
Putin spoke in front of an enthusiastic flag-waving crowd, but it soon became clear that the event was a way to rally the country behind the current invasion of Ukraine and the war, defined by the Kremlin not as conflict, but a "military operation".
Many were seen waving flags emblazoned with the letter Z, a military marking and a symbol of public support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but some say the audience comprised state employees and students who were required to attend. Patriotic songs were played and verses proclaimed while Putin tried to justify Russia's intervention in Ukraine by repeating unfounded claims that the country was committing genocide in the Donbas region.
For this display of egomaniacal madness complete with music and bands, reminiscent of loud Trump rallies and grand events like The Superbowl, Putin donned a Loro Piana parka that costs over 1 million roubles (12.000 Euros), from a 2013 collection, matched with a white jumper (and probably with a Kevlar vest we didn't really see, but that, some say, is Putin's favourite garment...).
Loro Piana, the cashmere company in which LVMH owns a majority stake since 2013, felt embarrassed and quickly issued a statement, explaining that the company, founded in Quarona Sesia in 1924, is supporting Ukrainians with donations, blankets and clothes made with its yarns.
The LVMH group (like other fashion houses and fashion conglomerates) actually stopped operating in Russia as the war in Ukraine started, so it didn't feel that guilty, but Loro Piana highlighted that they support Ukraine and that Putin should start pondering about the slaughtering going on in Ukraine.
Unfortunately for Loro Piana, this is not the first time Putin gets photographed in one of their designs: in 2015 he was pictured as he trained in Sochi in a €2,900 Loro Piana cashmere and silk track suit.
The recent Loro Piana incident shows that Putin doesn't care about what's going on in Ukraine, but also about what Russians may have to go through very soon. Official surveys state the majority of Russians are in favour of "the military operations" in Ukraine, (yet, is it possible to believe to surveys conducted by the government?), but what will happen when the impact of the sanctions introduced by Europe and the United States will be felt and the local economy collapses?
Image-wise, Putin probably opted for the parka to get a more casual look and compare himself to the more dynamic Zelenskiy, the President of Ukraine who has been wearing a military green shirt and fleece, basic clothes that made him popular not just in his country, but also abroad, where he gained followers on social media for proving he stands with his people.
Zelenskiy's attire reminds indeed people that the president is one of them; Putin's luxury parka is instead more similar to Melania Trump's Zara's "I really don't care, do u?" jacket that she wore while visiting immigrant children who entered the country illegally in a Texas border detention centre.
Yes, there may not be any particular message on the back of the jacket, but the meaning is the same, he just doesn't care. He doesn't care about people dying in Ukraine, he doesn't care about the Russian soldiers he sent to death and about cutting off his country from the rest of the word.
The most interesting thing is that, just like those people who despise something but actually secretly love and covet it, he hates the west, but essentially ends up aligning with Western styles not just for what regards the sets and settings of his propaganda shows, but also his wardrobe. This is actually what separates him from being an old school dictator: Italy's fascist dictator Mussolini in his campaigns for autarchy, pushed Italian industries to create fabrics with local products or support local textiles, such as lanital and the rough "orbace", a Sardinian coarse wollen fabric. Putin's supposed love for his country is actually a passion for himself and for the top luxury items on the market (from yachts to clothes...).
Obviously a super expensive jacket is a minor crime compared to hospitals being bombed, buildings were women and children were taking refuge being hit by missiles, Mariupol being almost completely destroyed, people being deported to economically depressed areas in Russia and other assorted horrors we hear about on a daily basis now.
But never underestimate the fashion and politics connection: you may think that fashion and politics do not have anything in common, but what politicians wear always tends to have a meaning. Angela Merkel's blazers were a sign of her diplomacy and monolithic presence; Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's brooches hid subtle messages behind them. And just like the Devil may wear Prada, we have now learnt that a modern war criminal favours instead the most expensive cashmere designs on the market to hide his guilt, recast himself as a hero and liberator, and keep on rewriting the war narrative.
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