So, What Does Bernie Sanders Think About Being a Fashion Muse, Anyway?

Last month at Paris Fashion Week, it was big news when Sen. Bernie Sanders got runway attention at the latest Balenciaga show. There, with industry stalwarts like Rei Kawakubo (the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s next Costume Institute exhibition and founder of Comme Des Garçons) watching, the high-fashion brand showed a line of menswear bearing Sanders’s name. And the aesthetic of the collection itself? Seemed like a riff on middle America, if you ask us.

Well, after a few weeks of verbally eviscerating Trump nominees in confirmation hearings, Sanders has finally gotten an opportunity to address the show — yes, this means that piece from the Cut about his reaction to the collection was little more than a set of alternative facts. At the end of a CNN interview Sunday morning, the question finally came up.

“I want to ask you, as a closing question, about something that is admittedly rather frivolous,” the anchor says on the State of the Union talk show. “I want to ask you about this bizarre sighting at Paris Fashion Week from Balenciaga.” After putting some looks up on the screen, he continues.

“Did you ever think that you would become a fashion icon?” To this, Sanders laughs.

“Not quite,” he answers. “Of my many attributes, being a great dresser or a fashion maven is not one of them.” The anchor’s response is simple.

“Apparently, there’s a designer out there who feels something different.” And we concur! Though his suits can sometimes look a little messy and unkempt, Sanders has a pretty great record when it comes to outerwear. Plus, in this tumultuous time, maybe disheveled is the way to go. Instead of worrying about whether our ties are askew or our shirts are pressed, we should be worrying about the state of the republic. Sanders has that down in spades.

So, yes, Sen. Sanders, maybe you really are the fashion maven we need in the age of Donald Trump.

Related:

Political Teen Takes Cardboard Cutout of Bernie Sanders to Prom

Bernie Sanders Was Recognized as a Fashion Icon on the Paris Runway

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