1.
Pope Leo XIV
Head of the Catholic Church

Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, made a virtue of simplicity: think plain cream cassocks and sensible black shoes. Since his election in May, the first American pope has re-embraced the gold, ermine and velvet adornments of previous pontiffs, suggesting a more traditionalist bent. As well as an amitto (a lacy neckerchief ), he wears a white tunic known as the alb and a braided belt called a cingulum. He has also displayed more whimsical tendencies. During an audience in the Vatican in June, a honeymooning American couple presented the Chicago-born pope with a White Sox baseball cap, which he briefly wore – and blessed – before returning.

2.
Ibrahim Traoré
President of Burkina Faso

A military dictator has two fashion choices. The first is to ditch the fatigues and throw on a suit. The other is to go all in on the martial-tyrant shtick. Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré has chosen the latter, both sartorially and politically. Attending the inauguration of Ghana’s president, John Mahama, in January, Traoré wore not only his favourite orange-green camouflage but an ostentatious pistol in a holster too. He also appreciates a red beret. The scarlet hat has domestic resonance – it was the choice of 1980s Burkinabe leader Thomas Sankara – and it has also helped Traoré foster a global online cult proclaiming him a 21st-century Che Guevara.

3.
Kristrún Frostadóttir
Prime minister of Iceland

An ascent to national leadership usually takes a few decades, which is why the fashion sensibilities of those in such roles tend towards the middle-aged. Kristrún Frostadóttir was 36 when she became Iceland’s prime minister in December 2024 and so is able to take the (relative) liberties associated with (relative) youth. But she generally doesn’t, instead favouring the up-market end of the high street. Election night was spent in a sequined Ralph Lauren blouse; when she was sworn in, she wore a viscose dress by Italian label MSGM. As one Icelandic columnist noted, apparently approvingly, Frostadóttir “disproves the theory that Social Democratic Party women prefer to wear loose dresses with plunging necklines”.

4.
Claudia Sheinbaum
President of Mexico

There are wretchedly few advantages to being a woman in politics but one is a licence to operate beyond the confinements of a suit and tie. Claudia Sheinbaum has seized upon this opportunity – and upon her country’s distinctive and admired Indigenous textiles. The visual signature of her 2024 election campaign was purple dresses, including one decorated with a spectacular floral breastplate on the day she won. When she was inaugurated last October, she wore an ivory dress with embroidered floral embroidery by Oaxacan designer Claudia Vásquez Aquino. Pairing stylish and stately isn’t easy but Mexico’s first female president has achieved it.

5.
Friedrich Merz
Chancellor of Germany

Friedrich Merz’s predecessor, Olaf Scholz, was an oddity among modern leaders for being boldly balding. Though clinging to a reasonable thatch for a man nudging 70, the incumbent cultivates a small frontal tuft to complement the wraparound. Merz is unusual in leading a government in glasses; Die Zeit newspaper believes that the chancellor sports a pair of Tom Fords bought at Rottler, an optician in his hometown of Arnsberg. They’re a daring (-ish) choice, perhaps signifying someone straining at the traditional strictures of his role. The same might be said for Merz’s selection of whimsical ties that feature turtles, flamingos or penguins.