Forget Barack Obama: Medvedev is already the world's first metrosexual leader.
Joel Stein recently wrote of the effeminate US Democratic presidential candidate in the LA Times:
“He's well-dressed. He eats arugula (rocket) — which he buys at Whole Foods… He is, as we mentioned, quite thin. He may only be half-black, but he's three-quarters gay”.
What a girl! Being thin, eating organic leaves and wearing an off the rack Burberry suit was the best Obama could do?
Once again, as with women's tennis, robber barons, computer hacking, conspicuous consumption, espionage and racism, it falls to Russia to step in and show America how it's done.
While it may have stalled a little regarding such incidentals as elections, a free press, tolerance for minorities and business transparency, Russia has made democratic history where it counts: by electing a president who appears to be more a puppet of GQ magazine than of Vladimir Putin.
Take this EASY QUIZ to see if YOU are a METROSEXUAL PRESIDENT!
1. When hosting an international summit, you give visiting heads of state gifts of:
a) Oligarch livers.
b) Silver scale models of the next generation T-90 tank
c) Signed albums of your own amateur photography, which include pictures of ‘Italian cherubs, a rowing boat bobbing on a dappled turquoise lake, ducks, and several landscapes’.
2. What is your favourite Crayola colour?
a) Bruised-Chechen Blue
b) Rib-eye Red
c) Deep purple
3. To relax, you:
a) go shirtless fishing
b) practice judo on little children
c) meditate
4. As a kid, you wanted to be:
a) a spy
b) leader of all the Russias
c) a lawyer
5. Outside of the office, you prefer to dress in:
a) a nuclear submarine commander's uniform
b) just a strategically placed gun
c) turtleneck paired with a leather jacket
(ANSWERS: 5 Cs or more: Congratulations! You’re a Metrosexual President!
3 As or 3 Bs: Congratulations! You’re the new Prime Minister!)
A cursory analysis of Medvedev's dress confirms the suspicions: Roped shoulders a la Tom Ford? Check. Waisted double vented shorter-than-average jacket? Check.
High lapels? Metrolicious!
Cheeky school-tie knot paired with uber-spread collar? Like, straight out of Gossip Girl!!!
And don't neglect those nails!
Many commentators have attempted to paint Medvedev as little more than an extension of his predecessor. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. In a radical departure, the new leader quickly jettisoned Putin's boxy Brionis and his predictable, precision tied half-windsors.
But what does that tell us about his future foreign policy?
More than you might think!
Vladimir Putin's preference for Brioni and Hugo Boss suits correlated perfectly with his close political ties to Berlusconi's Italy and Schroeder's Germany (Schoeder, too, apparently chose Brioni). Conversely, Putin was as circumspect of British tailoring as of its Berezovsky-shelterin’ Prime Minister.
Unlike his mentor, Medvedev is clearly a Saville Row man. Though we do not know exactly which tailor he uses, the subtly waisted cut and characteristic navy colour (preferred by the likes of Daniel Craig and Prince Charles) of several of his suits, together with his penchant for old-boy style asymmetrical tie-knots, points strongly to a W1S postcode.
Therefore, could the era of hostility and suspicion between Russia and the UK be drawing to a close?
It is too early to tell, but all those sceptical of sartorial power in international diplomacy should note the wonders Medvedev's style has already done for Russia's relationship with France.
