Power Dressing: How Meloni, Merkel and Selenskyj Use Fashion as a Political Tool

Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first female prime minister, is often seen in wide-cut trousers and pastel blazers that flow over her high heels. Her wardrobe is closely scrutinized not just because Italy is synonymous with fashion, but because her clothing choices visibly mirror her political evolution. "Fashion is a language — it tells us without words what the wearer wants to express," says Michela Bonafoni, who teaches fashion at Unicollege in Florence.

From Power Suits to Pastels: Meloni's Image Shift

When Meloni took office in 2022, she was often photographed in dark, boxy suits and heavy boots — a look that mirrored her positioning as the combative outsider, leader of the post-fascist-rooted Fratelli d'Italia party. The concept of power dressing emerged in the 1970s and grew through the 1980s, when the second wave of feminism coincided with women entering leadership roles. Designer Giorgio Armani played a key part, with softer, flowing cuts offering a new interpretation of authority.

Since consolidating her political position, Meloni has gradually moved toward lighter palettes — cream, beige, and rose — and more relaxed silhouettes. Bonafoni sees this as deliberate: when Meloni sensed that many Italians disapproved of some of her government's policies, she adopted softer pastel tones to project warmth and approachability. No luxury brand, including Armani, has publicly agreed to dress her, yet she continues to leverage "Made in Italy" designers as an expression of her nationalism.

Merkel's Uniform and Thatcher's Armor

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel developed one of the most recognizable political wardrobes of modern times — her three-button blazers in an unusually wide spectrum of colors became a kind of uniform. The consistency was itself a statement: it ensured that observers focused on Merkel the politician, not Merkel the dresser. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher similarly deployed tailored suits, pearls, and handbags as what Bonafoni describes as "armor" — a carefully constructed visual representation of female political authority for her era.

Selenskyj's Olive Green: Wartime Branding

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj presents a contrasting case: since the Russian invasion, he has worn exclusively olive-green military-style clothing, a choice that reinforces his wartime message of solidarity with his country's soldiers and signals that Ukraine is in an existential struggle. His consistency in this regard is as calculated as Merkel's blazers, but serves an entirely different political purpose.