Dress code breaker: What do Volodymyr Zelenskyy's clothing choices mean?

When Volodymyr Zelenskyy exited his vehicle in Washington on Friday, he was greeted by Donald Trump with a handshake and a "You're all dressed up today". It was the first of several comments that Zelenskyy would receive on his style of dress that day, which ended in an aggressive questioning of his choices.

"Why don't you wear a suit," Brian Glenn, a reporter from the conservative cable network Real America's voice asked Zelenskyy, "You're at the highest level in this country's office, and you refuse to wear a suit."

The questioning did not end there. "Do you own a suit?" Glenn continued, adding "A lot of Americans have problems with you not respecting the dignity of this office".

President Zelenskyy replied simply: "I will wear costume after this war will finish." The word costume translates from 'kostyum' - the Ukrainian word for suit.

On his numerous international trips to try and secure military and financial support for his country, the Ukrainian President has chosen to forego the typical attire of a head of state. Rather than a suit and dress shoes, Zelenskyy has opted for simple sweatshirts, often black or olive green, bearing the Ukrainian trident symbol, cargo pants, and work boots.

This sartorial choice has been a constant since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. During his first visit to the United States after the beginning of the full scale invasion, Zelenskyy addressed Congress in an olive green sweater which has now become one of his signatures. He has donned similar attire during numerous state visits, televised interviews, and meetings with soldiers on the front lines. His wardrobe has also been the same during talks with world leaders or when he's joined his compatriots to sing the national anthem.

Like all of his choices as a leader, Zelenskyy's decisions of what to wear are intentional. Since the outbreak of the war, his style has experienced a marked shift. The previous clean-shaven president has now sported a full beard for years, and, prior to the full-scale invasion, he dressed like any other world leader.

"This is the reality that we’re living in. Obviously, our president is going to reflect that," says Agatha Gorski, co-founder of the Shadows Project, an NGO and creative consultancy aimed at preserving and popularising Ukrainian culture. "If you’re walking around Kyiv then you see that people look like this," she adds.

"It shapes a narrative. A very important narrative that we are at war and that this is our reality."

But Zelenskyy is not the first world leader to don military attire in support of his country's war effort. Famously, Winston Churchill visited the White House in a siren suit, a one-piece outfit originally designed for use in air raids shelters. But unlike Churchill, Zelenskyy has made his attire a consistent part of his image, not changing into formal wear for diplomatic events, and not letting anyone forget the message that he is trying to convey about the state of his country.

The military uniform is associated with power, and has been worn not only by leaders at war, but by leaders wanting to project a sense of accomplishment, might, and authority. Worn by army generals, accomplished veterans, and statesmen, the uniform can add a sense of legitimacy and experience to anyone who adorns it.

But Zelenskyy's typical outfit is not quite a uniform. He doesn't wear the exact same apparel as Ukrainian soldiers who are fighting, and he is not adorned with medals of his accomplishments in battle. What his style does evoke is the sense of a soldier off duty, the everyman of his country.

"Our president is the very specific representation of who we are, what message we want to give to the rest of the world, and his clothing is part of this message and they’re part of the personal brand which doesn’t just represent him but represents us as a country," Gorski tells Euronews Culture.

Gorski suggests that the criticism he faced for his style of dress was not only felt in the Oval Office. Instead, she believes that the questioning sounded "like it’s a mockery of the soldiers that are fighting for their country’s survival and the fact that their leader chooses to act in solidarity with them".

In Zelenskyy's case, she argues, the intention of his choices carry special weight. "I think that Zelenskyy knows this more than anybody else because he has a background as a comedian, as an actor," she says, "he knows first-hand what dressing up and pretending to be somebody looks like."

While the Ukrainian leader is the latest to be scorned for his style, his wife, Olena Zelenska, has also come under scrutiny for her own fashion choices. In 2022, heated debates erupted online over the couples decision to participate in a Vogue photoshoot.

Lauren Boebert, a Republican politician, said that Zelenskyy had taken her country's citizens as "a bunch of suckers".

Aside from the decision to participate in the shoot itself, some viewed Zelenska's choice to wear fashionable clothes while the war was ongoing as contradictory to the war effort.

While unconventional, Zelenskyy's style has drawn admiration from many Ukrainians, who see it as a show of solidarity and a marked shift in political norms.

"The reason I think that it’s so important is because I think he’s a really great representation also of new leadership, of leadership that is young, that is charismatic," says Gorski, "I think what we’re realising today is that more and more leadership is not and does not have to be defined by a suit."