Why Zelenskyy won’t wear a suit

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KYIV — The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wore a suit was early on Feb. 24, 2022, when he posted a video announcing martial law as Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Since then, Zelenskyy has largely sported combat-style black, gray or khaki cargo pants, boots, sweatshirts and polos decorated with Ukrainian national symbols.

That leaves him strikingly underdressed compared to his peers. Yet that’s the point.

“When world leaders see Zelenskyy in military style, it is a signal — ‘Ukraine is at war and I am part of this fight,'” Elvira Gasanova, designer of the Damirli brand that is one of Zelenskyy’s signature looks, told POLITICO.

“A persistent call to return to the suit is a de facto demand to return to the usual format of political dialogue, which means ‘enough of war, sit down at the negotiating table,’” Gasanova added.

That was one of the triggers for last month’s catastrophic White House meeting.

That encounter was always destined to go sour thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump’s alignment with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, but clothing was something of a red flag to Trump, rarely seen without his baggy bespoke Brioni suit and long red tie unless he’s on the golf course.

Zelenskyy was wearing a polo shirt made by Gasanova when he got to the White House, prompting a snark fromTrump who greeted the Ukrainian leader with: “You’re all dressed up!”

It got worse in the Oval Office, when right-wing journalist Brian Glenn asked: “Why don’t you wear a suit? You’re at the highest level in this country’s office, and you refuse to wear a suit. Do you own a suit? A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office.”

“I will wear costume after this war will finish,” Zelensky responded, using the word “costume,” which in Ukrainian means “suit” but has a sharper edge in English. “Maybe something like yours, yes. Maybe something better, I don’t know. Maybe something cheaper,” Zelenskyy shot back.

That launched Trump and U.S. Vice President JD Vance into a series of attacks on Zelenskyy. They accused him of being disrespectful and not thankful enough for the U.S.’s support. The Ukrainian president was kicked out of the White House and Trump froze deliveries of U.S. weapons and halted intelligence sharing in a bid to pressure Kyiv into agreeing to peace talks with Russia.

Initially, Ukraine responded with shock.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry even launched a flashmob of hundreds of Ukrainians demonstrating their outfits to Trump — soldiers, police officers, first responders and doctors who stated their wartime uniforms were their power suits.

But the message has gone out to Zelenskyy’s staff to avoid annoying the Americans over clothing choices.

During U.S.-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Andriy Yermak, wore a tailored suit instead of his usual cargo attire.

However, Zelenskyy isn’t dropping his combat look.

Wardrobe diplomacy

Criticizing clothing is often about more than fashion, said Zoya Zvynyatskivska, a Ukrainian fashion critic and historian.

“Manipulating dress requirements is an act of domination. Trump is a political bully, who does not disdain any opportunity to humiliate his opponent, to show him and the rest his place in the hierarchy,” Zvynyatskivska said.

“To paraphrase Churchill, if our man put on a tie to avoid public humiliation, he would receive the same humiliation — but in a tie. ‘Oh, I see you finally dressed like a man,’ Trump would say,” the critic added.

That power dynamic can be seen by the one man in Trump’s orbit who doesn’t get into trouble for wearing T-shirts and baseball caps to the Oval Office — Elon Musk.

Gasanova said that Zelenskyy’s style is a commitment he can’t break even for Trump — a show of solidarity with Ukrainian civilians and the military fighting the Russian invasion.

“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.

But the example of a leader who dresses like his soldiers is a powerful one.

Even Putin aped Zelenskyy, putting on a uniform this month when visiting Russian troops as they pushed Ukrainian forces out of most of the Kursk salient they had captured in last summer’s surprise counteroffensive.

Zelenskyy also may have to meet Trump again to talk over the U.S. president’s conversation with Putin. No word on what he’ll wear.

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