The great fashion debate: Albanese and Dutton’s style campaign
Our next prime minister is still being decided, but it’s already clear that following next month’s federal election, Australia will remain without a style leader in Canberra.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have dodged fashion risks on the campaign trail, playing it safe in uncomfortably snug polo shirts, navy suits and business shirts that have the everyman appeal of actors in television commercials for life insurance.
The bland styling is as predictable as photo opportunities involving high-vis vests, with neither politician having previously demonstrated the compact flair of French leader Emmanuel Macron, masculine charm of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez or cultural confidence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Big tie energy: Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit: Illustration: Monique Westermann
“Albanese and Dutton could take style cues from Macron and [former Canadian leader] Justin Trudeau,” says menswear stylist Jeff Lack. “A well-dressed man is a powerful and confident man.”
“With this current level of scrutiny, it would be a shame to not see our leaders looking their absolute best.”
Big tie energy
Ties have been a major fashion battleground during the election campaign. These are not the aspirational ties that have returned to fashion courtesy of Saint Laurent on the runway and Nicole Kidman on the red carpet, but the type found in Father’s Day gift guides and company board reports.
Echoing the stop sign reds and fast food yellows of US President Donald Trump’s dangling ties, Albanese has been championing stretched-out sunny silk strips with the occasional punchy purple. Dutton has stuck with ties in the cool blues favoured by former US president Joe Biden, along with soothing splashes of dusty rose and pale pinot noir.
“The orange tie worn by Albanese during the first leaders’ debate was a very deliberate choice,” says Melbourne stylist Sally McKinnon. “Orange symbolises warmth, energy, enthusiasm and positivity, attributes I feel that Albanese is keen to project, setting him apart from Dutton.
“With Dutton the soft blue tie and navy suit speaks to his traditional and conservative approach to politics, and sends a message that he’s reliable, trustworthy, dependable.”
Albanese in a bold orange tie on the campaign trail, US President Donald Trump in Iowa in January last year, Dutton campaigning this week and former US president Joe Biden last May.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, James Brickwood, Getty Images
While the repeated H print on Albanese’s ties suggests a recent trip to a Hermes boutique, where similar ties start at $430, the PM wears it with the democratic air of a Jetstar flight attendant.
“You can envisage at the end of the day his jacket thrown over the modular lounge, revealing a relaxed persona underneath,” says Sydney stylist Ken Thompson. “The look is solid, with just enough punch in the tie colour to say, ‘I’m always up for a second opinion on this look.’ An egalitarian clothing success story.
“Running the gamut of the entire blue Pantone section, Dutton prefers a surety in his AM/PM attire.”
High-vis vests
Kissing babies on the election trail has been replaced by wearing high-vis safety apparel, with politicians increasingly eager to indulge in construction work cosplay.
“You can see a twinkle in Dutton’s eyes with the multi-tiered meaning of donning a high-vis vest to echo on-the-job essentials,” Thompson says.
While McKinnon commends Albanese for removing his jacket when wearing the vest, “It shows a willingness to get his hands dirty”, Lack thinks both men could take things further.
“I’d take the ties off for high-vis activities and roll up the shirt sleeves; this feels more relatable,” he says.
While the vests are donned on the run by our leaders, thrown over their business attire, it’s a missed opportunity to support Australian workwear brands or at least demonstrate personality with a co-ordinating construction hat.
Sausage sizzle chic
While both Albanese and Dutton can deftly handle a sausage in a set of tongs, their outfits arouse suspicions about whether either man has participated in the national ritual of visiting a Bunnings hardware store on the weekend.
Albanese’s lairy BBQ attire features a polo-shirt covered in logos ticking off key demographics, with a snug dad-bod fit. Dutton’s selection of a blue business shirt is an invitation for splatters of fat and tomato sauce that would challenge most stain removers.
Dutton wore a dark polo shirt from New Zealand label Rodd & Gunn in his campaign video, while playing backyard soccer in thongs, but he might have forgotten to pack it for his BBQ photo opportunity.
The missing ingredient for both politicians is an apron, which obviously ranks lower than a high-vis vest in the working leaders’ wardrobe.
The verdict
If the ambition of Albanese and Dutton is to fly beneath the fashion radar, like the latest menswear collection from Lowes, then both men are winners.
“Perhaps it’s because the world is on fire currently that the fashion barely registers,” says Melbourne stylist and formerVogue editor Anthea O’Connor.
“Not since Paul Keating have I been impressed by a politician’s wardrobe,” adds Lack. “At least doing the rounds in high-vis covers some of it up.”
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