The power of style, the style of power

   Ioulia Timochenko. Her name probably doesn’t ring a bell; yet, fashionwise, she has a lot to say. The 50 year-old ex-prime minister of Ukraine shows her own style which manage to have an impact on the international fashion world.

   Her particularity? A blond French braid around her head like that of a traditional famer outfit and that you can now find in the fashion shows of the best designers. Ioulia Timochenko understood the importance of her image on the political scene and chose to display purity given by her impeccable hair that she combines to light colored outfits in order to reinforce the stylish side of the perfect Ukrainian. Hence the white as the color of her presidential campaign in 2010.

  

  But the “princess of gaz” is multifaceted: she also has a claim to the title of “princess of the orange revolution” of 2004. And once again, her commitment shows in her style. She proudly wears a pull over with the word “revolution” written in orange to stand out against the black sleeves. Bold. She is bold enough to assert her opinions, to have her outfits talk when she doesn't. Orange then becomes a recurrent theme in her outfits. 

  Ioulia Timochenko calls her movement “mother country” and adapts her style to this political turning point. Tradition is her motto. Her outfits now look like folk costumes. However, if Ioulia overdoes it, she still moderates her choices and her image stays unharmed.

 Among her favourite designers, there is a young Ukrainian, Aïna Gassè. Ioulia Timochenko wears one of her dresses for a session in parliament in 2005. The style is very unusual. The sleeves are made of black lace and enhance the strict design of the grey dress. The ensemble is very chic and daring at the image of the MP who is wearing it. The impact is resounding. Newspapers from the entire world use that image as the symbol of a style proudly displayed by an ambitious and determined woman politician.

  That determination represents a fashion style according to Ioulia Timochenko. She manages to adapt herself to the world she is in with a disconcerting ease. She goes from a Vuitton suit to chic but strict outfits; but she can also wear a pair of jeans and undo her hair to go to a meeting with young people and get closer to her audience. The ex-prime minister built herself an image and knows how to use it. If the art of the chameleon suits her so well, it also helps forgetting a personality that a lot of people describe as cold and implacable.

Ioulia in a more casual outifit wearing denim

        

The princess of gaz in a serious black dress during a meeting with Poutine

             
     Ioulia Timochenko’s style is at the same time hard to define and strongly lasting. It helped catching the attention of the world on her country as she is trying to create diplomatic relations with the Occident. The Ukrainian “princess” let her outfits talk and show that their voice sometimes has more impact when the discourses can't get louder than a whisper.

Blondyn_Bubble 
(translated from French by Absolute B.)