CULTURE
The Spin | Yukio Hatoyama
— May 25, 2010—
David Hellqvist tries to make sense of the sartorial choices of World Leaders in his fortnightly column The Spin
Today, the topic of discussion is Japan’s Prime Minister – known to many as old, you know, whatshisname. But while Yukio Hatoyama might not be the most prolific statesmen on the scene just yet, to his credit he’s only been in power since September last year. Hatoyama-san represents the Democratic Party of Japan, which is a great name since it kind of infers that the opposition is not democratic, but totalitarian, fascist or another unpleasant form of government.
Japan is a funny one. While far from geographically massive, it is a heavyweight member of the almighty G8 and as such helps set the agenda for the rest of the world. Since World War II the country has become synonymous with major car and electronic industries, but it is also a major fashion exporter. Imagine if all world leaders had to wear clothes from national designer treasures: Cameron in Gieves & Hawkes, Obama in Ralph Lauren, Sarkozy in Dior and Berlusconi decked out in Armani. That’s all fine but Hatoyama could be rocking Junya Watanabe brogues, wrinkly Issey Miyake cords and a light blue Comme des Garçons Homme Plus shirt under his khaki Yamamoto jacket with Nehru collar…
That, alas, is not his outfit of choice. Hatoyama is very traditional, and not even in an exciting Japanese way. His wife, however, is far from boring. A former actress, these days Miyuki Hatoyama categorises herself as a “life composer.” Because no one knows what that means, Miyuki is now a mainstay of the chat show circuit, repeatedly invited on to talk at length about her life and opinions. It was on one such show that Miyuki claimed to have been abducted by aliens, while on another occasion she let slip that she knows Tom Cruise since the actor used to be Japanese in a previous life! Miyuki Hatoyama for Prime Minister!
David Hellqvist is the Commissioning Editor of Dazed Digital, a freelance contributor to Men’s Vogue and GQ in China, AnOther Man, ZOO and i-D Magazines. He also writes the blog Fashion in Politics
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