A hands-on politician
Those who believe Prime Minister Justin Trudeau puts style over substance are directed to the forthcoming issue of Vogue.
Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau took time from their schedules after his swearing-in last month for a photo shoot with the high-end fashion magazine. The pictures accompany a survey piece on Trudeau and his election victory, which describes him as “strikingly young and wavy-haired,” looking “dashing in his blue suit and jaunty brown shoes.”
In one black-and-white photo, Trudeau looks off-camera in a manner certain to evoke comparison to Zoolander.
In another photo, Trudeau embraces his wife, who is clad in an Oscar de la Renta dress valued at $5,700. (He’s wearing a plain blue shirt — his own.)
As Trudeau’s Twitter loyalists were quick to point out — and the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed — the frock was provided by Vogue. “As we’ve said many times, the Prime Minister engages regularly with many different kinds of media,” PMO spokesman Kate Purchase explained in an email.
The Vogue spread continues the tsunami of fashion industry coverage that Grégoire-Trudeau has enjoyed. The focus on her wardrobe has generated valuable publicity for those who employ her friend and stylist, Jessica Mulroney (the former prime minister’s daughter-in-law) and Trudeau’s half-sister, Ally Kemper.
It does not look like Mulroney had a hand in styling this shoot, though. The magazine credits their image to two professional stylists from the U.S., with and hair and makeup artists brought in to groom the couple.
We could soon be reading more about the Vogue feature in another source: the website of federal Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson.
The PMO pledged that Trudeau would report any loans of fashion items to his wife in the MP’s conflict-of-interest report he is required to file with Dawson’s office.