Top 3 Most Stylish Dictators
Dictators have often found themselves at the forefront of fashion. Let’s have a look at some of the suavest strongmen.
- Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi
For the most part, Gaddafi opted for formal military dress or traditional Libyan robes.
Often putting together powerful colour combinations, asserting his vitality on the likes of Obama who wasn’t prepared for Gaddafi’s Arab artistic spirit. Imagine being a leader of a superpower but being unable to choose anything to wear but a boring suit.
Gaddafi’s fondness for military regalia was first fostered at the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi where he trained from 1963–1965, graduating as a communications officer in the army’s signal corps.
As a devout follower of Nasser (former Egyptian leader), Gaddafi had strong anti-western and anti-colonialist views. These anti-western and anti-colonialist views inspired Gaddafi to wear traditional Libyan robes as not only a homage to his homeland but as an act of Western defiance. The thought of wearing a suit offended Gaddafi.
Always one with no shortage of panache, Gaddafi while receiving military in England in 1966 would go for strolls around Westminister in full Libyan robes.
2. Mobutu Sese Seko
His full name Mobutu Sese Seko Koko Ngbendu wa za Banga. Which means “the all-powerful warrior who, because of endurance and an inflexible will to win, will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake”.
A man with such a name could not be contained by a suit or polo khaki combo.
The eccentric President of Zaire was politically a centrist but not when it came to fashion. Seko was fond of exotic African patterns infused with animal print.
Seko’s slick tunic looks like an African inspired LV piece, definitely a pimp chic vibe.
It takes a certain power level to be able to wear a leopard skin hat when conversing with the Queen. However, Seko made it work without crossing the fancy dress line.
Seko’s fashion may have resulted in him experiencing the Queen’s hospitality as he was invited to stay at Buckingham Palace with his wife. However, his fashion couldn’t make up for his poor behaviour which left HRM unimpressed.
Seko smuggled his dog through customs placing the Queen’s beloved corgis at risk of contracting a disease.
The Queen allegedly told Seko to “Get that dog out of my house.”
The Queen’s former private sectary Lord Charteris, said “She really was shaking with anger,”
Seko’s sculptor Alfred Liyolo said, “He was a dictator, that’s right, but he was also a builder,” Liyolo insists. “He was a man of culture who wanted his home furnished by local artists. He was generous and allowed local artists to be known throughout the world and immortalised”.
Seko established the African dictator archetype, flashy, lover of the finer things to the detriment of his people and a confusing alien to Western leaders.
3. Ramzan Kadyrov
The leader of Chechnya is an example of a modern strongman who effortlessly blends typical dictator fits with modern looks. Kadyrov can be seen in a trendy camo hoodie or traditional Chechen attire with the hat to match.
Kadyrov is truly a modern dictator who once had a nicely curated Instagram before uncultured Instagram moderators gave the warrior king the flick.
With a strong ability to read the room, when meeting with Putin Kadyrov usually opts for a suit.
Kadyrov even took traditional military looks to another level attending a banquet in a Chechen medieval knight outfit. This look appears to be a rare misstep from Kadyrov who looks a little too renaissance fair. A man has to push limits though.
Kadyrov’s fashion sense may not be as creative as his torture techniques.
Murdered Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya said,
“I have met several people who told me that Ramzan Kadyrov personally tortured them in his home in the village of Tsentoroi. They said that Kadyrov and the other man with him used very elaborate torture. For example, they peel narrow strips of skin off a person’s back”.
Kadyrov should be used as an inspiration to budding dictators who are seeking a way to manage modern fashion trends world while still staying true to their roots.
I think it’s a great shame that so many world leaders have abandoned their traditional dress. If countries want to forge a unique vision for their countries based on local traditions outside the influence of Westernism they can not constrain their bodies in Western clothing.
