Conservative Party stalwart and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak assumed the role of Prime Minister this morning, a rollercoaster appointment and the United Kingdom’s third in twice as many weeks after a barrage of scandals and a monumentally dubious tax plan saw previous PMs Boris Johnson and Liz Truss uprooted from their positions. Sunak, the first PM of color in England’s history, has gained considerable standing in recent days with his pragmatic demeanor but faces an otherwise unprecedented instability for the British government, economy and people at large.
Questions remain: will a Sunak provide the guiding hand Britain needs to recover from the civil loss of the recently passed queen or avoid the dangers of the looming recession? Can he guide the pound to recovery and slingshot England’s economy back to its former standing among the powerhouses of the globe? And most importantly, who the fuck told Sunak about Palm Angels?
As many, like founder of the revered menswear blog Die, Workwear! Derek Guy, have been quick to point out, Britain’s newest national leader is, by a variety of accounts, a total dweeb when it comes to men’s clothing. It is, in fact, a documented fact: WWD reported this summer that Sunak donned nearly 4,000 pounds worth of tailoring from notable U.K. tailor Henry Herbert on a casual outing, with The Guardian similarly labeling Mr. Sunak the as the face of Britain’s new “hedge-fund couture.” It seems Sunak has had a history of pulling up in tasteful menswear over the course of his life as a civil servant, from charmingly British Barbour classics to modern menswear staples like Common Projects.
Indeed, Mr. Sunak is, kind of, maybe, a little bit drippy with it — as drippy with it as a public-facing leader of a nation can be, at least — possessing a razor-sharp grasp on buttoned-up business causal and a ‘head-level attention to detail that’s a welcome departure from the stuffy, unflattering suits typically associated with bureaucracy (less so, of course, with the crown). This math adds up: Sunak, the youngest PM in two centuries, Stanford grad and joint-valued at over $800 million dollars, is predisposed to know his way around the astronomically priced niceties of Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana-esque menswear that’s invaded the business and tech sectors in recent years.
While we can’t speak to whether his proclivity for Prada will translate into bona fide leadership chops, we are bemused at the thought of some rogue Off-White at a G7 meeting, and appreciative of Sunak’s elevated taste levels. Maybe he’ll stick around for longer than his predecessors: any man who knows the power of a good tailor already has a leg up on the competition.
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