Fashion, Politics Unlikely Mix

Move over, Hollywood—these days, fashion designers are dying to get their wares on a new kind of celebrity: politicians. The last time Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy visited London, Dior issued no fewer than five press releases on their outfits, and Louis Vuitton has even hired Mikhail Gorbachev as a model. But not everyone thinks the trend is chic, reports W in a look at political stars.

“When powerful women start using glamor and style, things usually end in tears. Marie Antoinette—hello!” says the creative director of Barneys New York. “[Political figures] should strive to be unremarkable and uninteresting in their style choices.” But relative frumpsters draw fire, too—notable Hillary Clinton's pantsuits and a British tab deriding Angela Merkel's vacation bathing suit as "big in the bumdestag." (More fashion stories.)