Fashion moves fast, but so does politics. Hence Akshata Murty's instant meme dress spotted during her husband Rishi Sunak's exit speech is already old news, and the focus of fashion and politics commentators and gossipers is now on the women in the Labour cabinet, particularly Britain's new First Lady, Victoria Starmer. The wife of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former lawyer and now an occupational therapist for the National Health Service, Victoria Starmer maintained a low profile during the campaign trail.
Britain's new First Lady arrives on the scene at a time when the media is thirsty for a figure that can be lauded or criticized for her fashion choices, considering that, aside from a recent appearance at Trooping the Colours, the coalescing Princess of Wales is still away from public view. So far Starmer has largely managed to keep his family a private matter, but you can bet that Victoria Starmer will now be more under the spotlight.
Mrs Starmer turned indeed into the focus of attention the minute she appeared next to her husband on Friday outside 10 Downing Street.
For the occasion, she donned a simple poppy red midi dress with a contrast-stitch decorative motif and cut-out details on the sleeves, matched with Russell and Bromley silver slingback heels. Labour-red is not a new color for Lady Starmer, who naturally opted for it on a series of previous occasions, including party conferences in 2022 and 2023 and a trip to the polls last week.
Designed by ME+EM, the British label also favored by the Princess of Wales, the dress was relatively affordable, costing €435.00, while the white ME+EM tweed cropped jacket with elbow-length sleeves the First Lady wore on election night (paired with dark wide-leg trousers and white sneakers), was slightly more expensive (€465.00). Over the weekend, Victoria Starmer was instead spotted at Sandown Park Racecourse in Surrey (for the Coral-Eclipse; she is a horseracing enthusiast) wearing a green floral-print maxi dress, a color that hinted at relaxing from her political duties. She didn't loosen the purse strings, though, as the dress, again by ME+EM, was €465.00 (but now it's on sale and you can get it for €235.00).
Founded by Clare Hornby in 2009, ME+EM is a ready-to-wear label positioning itself between the luxury market and the high street, focused on producing functional designs with some twists here and there, such as cut-out details, ample sleeves, or one-shoulder details like a removable corsage. On its website, the label calls its offer "intelligent style", and has a wide range of pieces that can be used as wardrobe basics. Fashion-wise, it seems to be a lower quality option compared to more sophisticated brands à la Max Mara, but it has been doing well and now it owns eight UK stores and concessions in Selfridges and Harrods, while expanding also in the US.
Commentators noted that the label has some connections with Labour, as Clare's husband is Johnny Hornby, managing director of the marketing company (TBWA) which managed Tony Blair's 2001 election campaign.
Angela Rayner, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, is also a fan of the label (but she's also into other high street labels such as Ted Baker), and for her walk into No. 10, she wore a ME+EM mint green trousers and a matching jacket. According to the brand's site, all the styles donned by Victoria Starmer and Rayner have been among their customers' favorite this week.
As the new Labour cabinet features a record number of women, 11, you can bet there will be more attention on their fashion choices from now on. Among them are also the Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. The former seems to have a passion for hair dyed in vibrant shades and colorful accessories, as proved by her fuchsia hair, blouse, and heels triangulation spotted on Saturday.
In these cases, their passion for colors may be attributed to the fact that these MPs are younger, but they also want to mark a striking difference with the more formal Conservatives, who were more prone to classic dark shades such as navy, gray, and black.
Reeves is the UK's first female chancellor (the fact that the ministerial toilet had only a urinal until now probably indicated they never anticipated a woman would hold such a role…), who so far has appeared to favor more muted colors and suits. Whatever she may choose to wear, let's hope it will empower her to face a series of challenging issues from addressing the gender pay gap to tackling the challenges of low wages, and confronting insecure work conditions that affect more women than men.
Given the fact that the new cabinet will have to try and sort out the mess left in the UK by 14 years of Tory rule, when you think about it, sartorial choices are definitely not important. The fashion choices of the new female cabinet members are indeed the last thing that we should be commenting upon, considering it will have to address several key issues, from the cost-of-living crisis to the state of the NHS, immigration and housing. Besides, there's also the current state of the fashion industry in the UK to take into consideration. Damaged by Brexit and by the politics of the Tory government, the industry has witnessed many designers and labels succumbing, from Christopher Kane collapsing in 2023 to The Vampire's Wife closing in May this year, while Roksanda Ilinčić sold her namesake label to The Brand Group (TBG).
Showing the public Victoria Starmer's opting for a relatively affordable label is a great strategy, but ME+EM still makes its products in a variety of countries, from the UK to Portugal, Italy, Romania, Turkey, Sri Lanka, India, China, Nepal, and the Mauritius (the label has actually opted for a transparent policy and lists all the countries where they manufacture their pieces on its website and that’s laudable, but is that enough?).
The ME+EM designs donned so far by the First Lady were made in China and Romania. So, the First Lady may have to try and expand her choices to keep British labels happy. Samantha Cameron often opted for Roksanda and Erdem, and Akshata Murty was spotted wearing JW Anderson (unfortunately she opted for the chain loafers and used them for the school run…). In a way, Victoria Starmer's getting there already: last year she borrowed ensembles by Edeline Lee for evening and more formal events, and borrowing or hiring designs by British labels could be a great solution to show the public she supports them without incurring the voters' rage for spending too much. It will be interesting to see how her approach evolves, but it will be even more compelling to observe the unfolding political landscape in the UK.
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