The Daily Telegraph - Features
How politicians have ruined trainers for the rest of us
Middle-aged men trying to be trendy can deal a fierce blow to Gen Z’s most beloved brands. By Stephen Doig
Spare a thought for the Adidas press office. They had only just weathered the considerable, category 5 storm that was Rishi Sunak wearing the brand’s Samba trainers, and then had to face the news that his fierce opponent Sir Keir Starmer had donned a pair of the Gazelle variety to visit the FA headquarters. And then, rather astonishingly, Nigel Farage was photographed in them too – in his own grab for attention on social media to show that he too is “down with the kids”. Does any Gen Z sneakerhead want to be seen in the same trainers as the 60-yearold Brexiteer-in-chief?
Luckily for Adidas, it has a 130-year history of weathering storms (its founding brothers were Nazis), although this latest run of political men using its brand to send their own messages must be alarming. Association with the “wrong” public figures can send sales plummeting.
Starmer’s style journey in wearing Adidas Gazelles is less fraught than Sunak’s – trainers are something of a mainstay for the Labour leader, who still plays five-a-side football regularly. “These are not Sunak style, these are my old Gazelles,” said Starmer.
Such was the Samba-gate fallout that Sunak felt obliged to apologise to acolytes of the trainer style, horrified that the one of the least popular PMs in living memory was adopting their choice of footwear in an attempt to appear “in touch”.
Footwear – and trainers in particular – is a thorny area for politicians, and Sunak has had a particularly bad run in this respect. In 2022, he chose to visit a building site in Teesside in £490 Prada loafers – real “man of the people” attire – and last year he wore clodding great Timberland boots that garnered press attention for swamping his diminutive frame.
As chancellor he wore a pair of £95 Palm Angels slides. For any brand that strives for the intangible mystique of “cool”, nothing kills the allure faster than a political association.
In 2006, The Telegraph’s
Christopher Howse laid into David Cameron’s favourite trainers, the
Converse All Stars with Velcro straps, commenting that they had become fiercely fashionable for “no rational reason”.
Tony Blair was faithful to Church’s brogues – a controversial choice for such an onerous role, as they’re considered the least formal of all structured footwear, while cult brand Veja must have recoiled at Matt Hancock grinning in a pair of its vegan trainers.
Stateside, President Joe Biden recently made headlines for opting for Hoka Transport trainers, which looked rather correctional, but accidentally stylish, worn with a suit. It follows a shift over the past few years in incorporating trainers into more formal environs; worn with suits in particular. You could call it a hangover from the pandemic, where ease and comfort became the status quo.
Back in Blighty, Starmer has deliberately and deftly veered away from labels and, like his Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, takes a more “working man” approach to his style. Black shirts, for instance, worn with jeans.
As for his footwear choices, Starmer has stayed loyal to Adidas throughout his public appearances. In more formal settings, he favours classic black Derbys or Oxfords – perhaps deliberately so, to ensure the attention isn’t focused on his outré footwear but his message. He’s watched the Adidas-clad missteps of Sunak and learnt.
Of course, no politician can hold a sartorial candle to Winston Churchill and his particular panache when it came to footwear. The wartime PM was fond of slip-ons from bootmaker George Cleverly, and had a particular taste for raffish evening slippers. In 2021, a monogrammed pair by 20th-century shoemaker N Tuczek sold at auction for nearly £40,000.
Will any of these more recent footwear faux pas leave their imprint on history? Might Sunak’s Sambas or Starmer’s Gazelles one day sell for thousands? Or will they instead just continue to repel, embarrassing trainer fans like a fusty old teacher trying to show they’re down with the kids?