On Friday, as my husband got home, the first thing he did was show me a “funny story” he came across on Instagram. It was a foot picture. I perused it : two feet wearing white sneakers facing two other feet in men’s leather shoes, under a desk. Nothing to roll on the floor about.
It all started with a feet pic…
Big deal ? Could have been if we would have swapped their respective owners. The leather shoes were those of Emmanuel Macron, current President of France, working late at night as his country is facing both a worrisome rise of coronavirus deadly contaminations as well as recurring terrorist attacks. The white sneakers belonged to the person who took the picture while sitting on the floor and facing him : Soazig de la Moissonnière, his official photographer. An almost 40 something, born in Paris’ suburbs, yet not those where you would expect people to show up in sneakers under any circumstances. Soazig was born in the affluent and conservative suburbian city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Far from Greater Paris housing projects.
Are sneakers making you less powerful ?
If she could sport sneakers while working at the Elysée Palace in 2020, why couldn’t he ? Because they would not match the style of a men’s suit ? More and more men have been daring the mix in recent years (think weddings). Because he is at work ? Well, she is too. And as a matter of fact they happen to share the same employer hence the same dress code, if any. Because he is in charge with high-level responsibility ? Here is where I landed. Despite sneakers slowly making their way to places of (traditional) power, such as banks (thanks god it’s casual friday!), could I remember a single example of a ruling President in sneakers while at work ? None in France. The only image of a French President in sneakers that sprung to my mind was Sarkozy proudly jogging in Nike running shoes while on holidays.
But after all, we might just be an old-fashion country, despite hosting the world fashion capital. It is worth noting though that before the current decade, sneakers were not considered as fashion attributes but mere sportswear items rather. Yet, even across the Atlantic, where sportswear originated, I could not remember witnessing neither Barack Obama nor Justin Trudeau (two examples of modern style politicians) wearing sneakers while on duty. If I am honest, here again, the only politician in sneakers on this side of the World I could think of was Fidel Castro. And the moment he traded his combat boots for Adidas was not a sign of power but it rather marked the start of his political downfall.
Sneakers’ last frontier
The next question is therefore : at a time when sneakers have almost permeated all sectors of our society, what would allow them to overcome the last frontier which appears to be politics ? Sneakers are so widespread nowadays that they can make one look normal. Politicians are arguably anything but normal people, especially those who come to power. Beginning of September 2020, T Magazine (the weekend edition of Swiss newspaper Le Temps) focused on how women politicians dressed. When asked the question, the 2020 Head of the Helvetic Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, pointed out that it is even more crucial for women as it is “part of looking credible” in what remains a men’s world and at a time where media are still more likely to discuss a woman style choice than those of a man in the same position. In politics women are still opting to blend in when dressing so that they can ensure the focus will be kept on their ideas. Sneakers would still not be classic enough in politics to go unnoticed. What about men ? Why are they not less conventional with their style choices if they are more likely to get away with comments in the press ? Politics imply a form of authority and representation matters to what you do. But why couldn’t sneakers become attributes of a power dressing ? Could it be because they make their wearers feel too comfortable while politicians always need to be on their guards ? Their stiff leather shoes might help keep them awake, always a bit off balance. This could be. Yet tech moguls, as kings of agility have favoured sneakers a long time back, and it can be argued that Mark Zuckerberg has more (or as much) power as a ruling president these days.
Finally, some invoke a form of respect to the institutions they represent when choosing what to wear. Until recently wearing sneakers in church could come across as rude. This was true until the question was no longer which shoes are people wearing in church but whether they would be going altogether…
Jordan for President
On Friday, a couple of minutes after posting hers, Soizig reposted the exact same picture from her canadian counterpart (even though Justin Trudeau has much more eccentric socks’ tastes than the French President). Recently, Kamala Harris campaigned in Converse (…and The Guardian titled ‘Kamala Harris : what her sneakers mean’) which was interpreted as a signal of action (“the sartorial equivalent of being willing to roll up her sleeves” analyzed Elisabeth Semmelhack, author of Sneaker x Culture : Collab).
It remains to be seen whether the Chuck will make it to the White House. Now that he is off duty, former US President Barack Obama was spotted wearing Stan Smith and All Birds sneakers (Silicon Valley’s favorite sustainable wool sneakers). The GQ journalist who wrote about it strongly disapproved of Allbird style choice and suggested he should swap them for a pair of Jordans.
Way to go before a President sports Jordans on the front step of his/her office, but if you are into sneakers you will know this would be a strong signal. While the standard western world counts years from JC birth, in Sneakerhead land Jordan marks the eras. Didn’t Elon get a custom pair ?
Sportswear Era 