In a Wednesday article, New York Times Hong Kong reporter Joy Dong wrote that the new communist regime-inspired fashion in China is “cool” and claimed that the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, has become a “fashion influencer.”
The piece described how young people in the massive country have started to embrace the clothing styles of government workers, to include donning “communist pins,” and dubbed this new genre of fashion the “Communist Party version of the preppy look.”
Dong also claimed that this communist-influenced phenomenon “reflects China’s conservative political turn.”
The reporter opened her deep dive into communist-influenced fashion by describing the general look. “A dull blue jacket, oversize trousers, a Communist Party member pin adding a splash of red on the chest, a small briefcase in hand. It’s the typical dress of the typical Chinese official, and has long been the very opposite of the look that many young Chinese strive for,” she wrote.
“But now the cadre look is cool,” Dong declared.
She then explained how this style took root, claiming, “On Chinese social media platforms where trendsetters trade fashion tips, young people — mostly men — have been sharing pictures of themselves dressed like their strait-laced, middle-aged dads working in Communist Party offices.”
“They call the trend ‘ting ju feng,’ or ‘office and bureau style’ — meaning the working wear of a typical mid-rank bureaucrat,” Dong added, before mentioning how the China’s top leader now doubles as one of the country’s top “fashion influencers.”
“The paragon of this determinedly dull look is China’s top leader, Xi Jinping,” Dong wrote, noting that “countless” of his staff “now sport the dark blue wind jacket favored by Mr. Xi.”
“Despite his immense power, Mr. Xi has not been seen as a fashion influencer — until now,” Dong added.