How politicians use styling to win hearts (and votes)
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Hiya, it's Hannah Gelbart here and you're listening to What In The World from the BBC World Service. Your fashion choices are an important form of communication and I'm sure that when you go and choose what you're going to wear, you're really thinking about what that says about you. And when it comes to politicians and their spouses, every outfit they choose is carefully calculated to send a message.

Now, I remember first seeing that photo of US First Lady Melania Trump back in January. She's wearing that monochrome suit with the razor sharp shoulders and she's got her hands perched powerfully on the desk in front of her.

And for me, that photo, that official portrait, wasn't just about elegance. It was about control. And then there are former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's playful socks that have sparked headlines. North Korea's Kim Jong-un, who's known for his military style and his trench coats.

Or Salva Kiir of South Sudan with his cowboy hat. And when it comes to female politicians, they face almost as much scrutiny for what they wear as what they say. Just think of Italy's PM, Giorgia Maloney, and her Armani pantsuits. So why are we talking about all this? Well, South Korea is heading to the polls. And image consultants there are quietly shaping the new public faces of leadership, thinking about everything from the colours of their ties to their jumpers and their hairstyles.

And in this episode, we're going to dive into how political styling works, why it matters and what it tells us about power, perception and persuasion. And to unpick this, I am speaking to Rachel Lee, a BBC journalist who is based in Seoul. And Rachel, you have been working on this story. You've been speaking to different image consultants ahead of the election. Are you into fashion yourself?

Well, I am slightly interested. I mean, South Korea is really well known for cave fashion as well. So I personally am interested in that sector. And what have you found out about the kind of intersection between politics and fashion?

I first came across this news where I saw one of the leading candidates, Lee Jae-myung, and his style change in his recent promo video for this snap election. So he was wearing beige colored sweater instead of suit with colored tie, which is exactly why I pulled into this story. Because in South Korea, image consulting for politicians is serious business. And now we're talking about, you know, full teams managing every detail of

of a candidate's looks, voice, and even how they gesture. And before we get into the styling, just to give a bit of context, South Korea is holding a snap election on the 3rd of June. That's to elect a new president and replace Yoon Suk-yool, who was removed from office after he placed the country under martial law in December. That's when he ordered his army to seize control. And that stunned the country and it stunned the world. So,

So can you give us a short overview of the main candidates who are going into this election? Right. So there are three main names to watch at the moment. So first, you've got Lee Jae-myung, as I just mentioned. So he's from the Democratic Party. So he's an experienced politician who competed with the last president.

And he's also well known for being pretty bold and straightforward, but also controversial at times. And then there's Kim Moon-soo representing the opposition People Power Party. So he's more traditional conservative voice with an older school, no-nonsense image. And now finally, there's Lee Joon-suk, and he's from the Young Reform Party candidate. And he's trying to, you know, shake things up, often called a political outsider despite his personality.

past ties with the conservatives. He's pitching himself as modern, fresh, and a little rebellious. How do those identities play out in their fashion senses? I mean, Lee Jae-myung, he made headlines when he made change of a usual dark suit and intense tone for a beige sweater and brown dyed hair in his campaign video, as I mentioned earlier. And this was definitely a clear attempt to soften his image.

And consultants I spoke to said it was strategic to move away from the tough guy persona and feel more approachable. While Lee Joon-suk, on the other hand, is now leaning into that young, fresh energy, which the consultant said kind of channeling a modern day John F. Kennedy with a cleaner haircut and sharper tailoring. Now, lastly, Kim Moon-soo's image.

is more classic, but consultants suggested tweaks like stronger eyebrow definition or warmer expressions to help him connect better. Stronger eyebrow definition. I love that. And you've been speaking to various different image consultants. What exactly is it that they do?

Right. So image consultants operate like full on political makeover crews. So it's not just about choosing a suit or fixing a haircut, though that is part of it. So they break it down into verbal and nonverbal elements. So there's voice coaching, the pace of their speech, but also things like facial expressions, posture, and even what kind of

Ty sends the right message. And one consultant I spoke to said that it's about emphasizing the positives and hiding the negatives without making the candidate seem fake. And it's a pretty well-paid job, right?

I mean, it is. So give you a brief understanding of how much these candidates spend money on this activity. And in a past election, Lee Jae-myung reportedly spent over 43,000 pounds on image consulting during his party's primary, which means when it comes to presidential election, this figure could go even more. And in this snap election, candidates might only have a few weeks to completely reset how voters see them. And in that time, a good image consultant can

can make a massive difference, which is why they're just investing in this industry. And is it paying off? What's the chat online been? Well, we did upload a video on this topic. So there's a lot of heat going in the comments section right now. So to share some of the comments I'm seeing. So the most popular comments were something like, please vote after watching at least one of each candidate's speech instead of just looking at their looks.

and politicians should be evaluated by their personality and policies, not image. And this is exactly what the consultants mentioned as well in their interview. They both highlighted the importance of judging candidates by their personality and policies instead of focusing on their image. But they also said that it's inevitable to be judged by looks, which is why politicians have no choice but to come find them.

And some of the other comments were saying this is sadly true and there aren't so many people who are that much interested in candidates' personality or ability and many are so obsessed with their looks instead. This is a really big election for South Korea because of all of the political uncertainty it's been through. It's a huge year in terms of the relations at the moment with North Korea, with the United States. South Korea, of course, has one of the lowest birth rates in the world.

And as well as the kind of styling and image consultancy that's been around for a while, nowadays, a lot of political candidates are also trying to gain votes on social media. Is that putting more pressure on them when it comes to looking a certain way?

Totally. Social media has turned every voter into a critic. So now one bad angle, one awkward expression, and it goes just viral in seconds. And politicians now have to look polished all the time, not just at debates or official events. And because platforms like you mentioned, TikTok or YouTube or Instagram rewards short emotional content,

candidates are being judged on their styles and delivery just as much as their message. Rachel, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. Thank you. All the candidates in the Korean election are men. So we haven't really spoken yet about the added scrutiny that female politicians face for their appearances. Women in politics also have a lot more choices and that can open them up to even more criticism.

Someone who has been looking into this and who really knows how to break down what looks work and what don't when it comes to politics is Stacey Wasiche, a fashion blogger from Kenya. Hi, Stacey. Hello. So talk me through what is hot and what's not in the world of political fashion. In the world of political fashion, I think right now we are seeing a lot of quiet luxury or soft power suits.

We've seen that with the Melania Trump recent portrait. And I think, as we know, Melania Trump is really influential in the political world in terms of fashion. And we've seen a lot of that, not just in the female sector, even in the male scene. We've seen that men are continuing to embrace blue power suits. So quiet luxury is the trend that you're seeing right now among politicians. Yes.

What kind of flops are you seeing? What are the outfits that aren't working so well for people who are working in politics?

I think a lot of flashiness, like say brands with logos and labels have quite disappeared from the scene because you want to be attached to your people. You want them to see that you understand the reality of the situation, especially right now we are looking at recessions. We are looking at the economic state of different countries. So if you're coming out wearing an expensive belt that has a logo, someone is going to find it

and check the prices and then come back and post it and say, oh, look, our politicians are wearing this expensive thing. How does fashion for politicians change in different countries? What are the priorities in different cultures? Say in Africa, I think...

Fashion is more relatable in terms of cultural diversity. Where are you from? We've seen countries from the west of Africa, countries like Nigeria. We've seen politicians, male politicians, wearing abadas, wearing abayas, and they're more like dresses in a way. We've seen that in countries like East Africa. Most of our leaders wear print, bold prints, which symbolizes power in African societies.

And like when we wear black, black is more of a mourning situation. Like who are you mourning when you wear black in African political scene? But when you wear bold print, it means that you understand the cultural diversity that happens within the scene of African politics around Africa. And then we've also seen the difference, that difference in the Western areas where we're looking at more blues, more black, more light blues. So the color there is more toned, unlike the color in Africa.

Are the blues a bit more casual than the blacks? And does that say anything about how politicians might be trying to dress in a way that is a bit more relatable, maybe a bit more attractive to younger voters these days? Or are they still going for the more traditional, powerful looks that might be more appealing to older voters?

I think that would mostly depends with the citizen that you are maybe leading. The number of people who are voting for you, like in Kenya right now, or rather in Africa at large, youth are seen to be more of the making the voter registration number. So our leaders are

inclined to, you know, speak to the youth through their fashion sense. We are looking at people who are wearing more sneakers, people who are leaning into acclosure clothes when they are out in public because they want to fit in the gap between the elders and the youth that are now voting. Stacey, thank you so much for speaking to us. Thank you so much.

That's it for today's episode. But if you're into the aesthetics of politics and economics, we've also done an episode on how fashion can reflect global economics. It's called Are Your Fashion Choices a Recession Indicator? And you can get that wherever you find your BBC podcasts. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Hannah Gelbart. This is What in the World from the BBC World Service.