Justin Trudeau, style icon? Vanity Fair adds PM to International Best-Dressed List
'I used to wear capes … they disappeared around the time my wife, Sophie, came into my life'
Justin Trudeau has earned a new distinction, joining Barack and Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, members of the British Royal family and actors Idris Elba, Fan Bingbing and Helen Mirren on Vanity Fair's latest edition of the International Best-Dressed List.
The magazine released the 2016 edition this week, with the Canadian prime minister — a self-confessed fan of "colourful socks" — among the figures lauded for their sartorial decisions.
Under his entry, Trudeau listed "a well-worn pair of jeans" as well as his father Pierre's "handmade Native buckskin fringe jacket" among his favourite items of clothing.
With a note of self-deprecation, he also quipped that his style icon — if left to his own devices — was Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow character from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
"I used to wear capes," he says. "Oddly, they disappeared around the time my wife, Sophie, came into my life."
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Trudeau is depicted on the magazine's website in a host of images, from wearing dapper suits and a tuxedo for political events and international summits to more casual wear while boxing, during a Pride parade and at a previous edition of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, original Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr., NFL player Victor Cruz, British actress Tilda Swinton and royals from Netherlands and Denmark also figure on the 2016 list, which included special sections to acknowledge style stalwarts such as Queen Elizabeth II, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge and the late Audrey Hepburn.
The annual list dates back to 1940, when it was founded by American fashion industry pioneer Eleanor Lambert to create "a sociological record of our time."
Previously revealed in the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribute and W magazine, the list has appeared annually in Vanity Fair since 2004.
Last winter, Vogue magazine published a lengthy profile of the Trudeaus, complete with dramatic photos of the prime minister and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau. He was also hailed as "Prime Minister of Suave" by GQ magazine.