When the presidential wardrobe makes a political statement

The wardrobe of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, is more than a style statement. it has become a canvas for her political message of promoting women’s and indigenous rights, as well as local handicrafts.

The left-wing leader proudly uses small-scale, local tailors and avoids “those brands that are extremely expensive”. Instead, she says she supports “the weavers, the embroiderers, all those who use looms in our country — mostly women — who are a source of national pride.”

The Mexican government has taken famous brands such as Adidas, Shein, Zara and Carolina Herrera to task for allegedly culturally appropriating traditional designs. And in her own fashion choices, Sheinbaum has also chosen to give credit where she says it’s due and uplift those she can along the way.

The 63-year-old leader was included in the New York Times list of the 67 most stylish people of 2025 – the only politician to appear. “Her ideology has always been focused on people’s rights, equality, even her style of dress,” said Mexican image consultant Gabriela Medina.

One person responsible for her appearance is Olivia Trujillo, who runs a small tailor shop from her home in the bustling neighborhood of San Pedro Martir on the outskirts of Mexico City. “Her favorite colors, without a doubt, I would say are purple and burgundy,” Trujillo told AFP.

Trujillo was recently invited to the National Palace for the final fitting of a purple dress with delicate embroidered flowers that Sheinbaum wore in December to her first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington.

“The color purple is associated with power, authority, luxury, rights, spirituality and sobriety,” Medina said of Sheinbaum’s choice. It’s also the color “that the feminist resistance movement has embraced,” she added.

Another iconic choice for Sheinbaum was the gown she wore for her inauguration in October 2024: a knee-length ivory creation with embroidered wildflowers emblazoned on one side. The top was left plain “to make the presidential card stand out,” Trujillo recalls.

The flowers were painstakingly hand-sewn onto the fabric by Claudia Vazquez, a 43-year-old Zapotec native who told AFP she had almost given up embroidery, her first love. She said Sheinbaum’s interest in art had been “life-changing.”

In the center of the country, in the village of San Isidro Buen Progreso, lives another embroiderer whose services the president has enlisted. Virginia Arce, 48, adorned the formal dress worn by Sheinbaum in September when she became the first woman to give the Declaration of Independence.

“The president picked out the tuna and a bird that she really liked — it was a swallow,” Arce recalls. The project took her two months, but the result was worth it when she saw the head of state walk out onto the presidential balcony with her project.

Gender analyst Laura Raquel Manzo highlights the danger of stereotyping women by analyzing what they wear — the scrutiny traditionally not applied to male leaders. In this case, however, he says that to ignore Sheinbaum’s deliberate sartorial choices would be “to deny how image shapes power.”