Sawt Falasteen - Dress for success: Mexican president's ideological attire

The leftist leader, Mexico's first woman president, proudly uses small-scale, local tailors and shuns "those brands that are super expensive," in her own words.

Rather, she supports "the weavers, the embroiderers, all those who use backstrap looms in our country -- mostly women -- who are a source of national pride," the 63-year-old recently told journalists.

The Mexican government has taken on famous brands such as Adidas, Shein, Zara and Carolina Herrera for the alleged cultural appropriation of traditional designs.

And in her own fashion choices, Sheinbaum has similarly chosen to give credit where she says it's due, and to uplift those she can along the way.

"Her ideology has always been very focused on people’s rights, on equality; even in her style of dress," according to Mexican image consultant Gabriela Medina.

- 'Feminist resistance' -

Sheinbaum was included on The New York Times list of 67 most stylish people of 2025 -- the only politician in the group.

One person responsible for her look is Olivia Trujillo, who runs a small tailor shop from her home in the bustling neighborhood of San Pedro Martir on the outskirts of Mexico City.

"Her favorite colors, without a doubt, I would say are purple and burgundy," the 63-year-old pattern-maker and tailor told AFP amid her sewing machines and a mannequin on which she assembles the presidential wardrobe.

Trujillo was recently called to the National Palace for the final fitting of a purple dress with finely embroidered flowers that Sheinbaum wore in December to her first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington.

"The color purple is associated with power, authority, luxury, royalty, spirituality, and sobriety," Medina said of Sheinbaum's choice.

It is also the color "that the feminist resistance movement has embraced," she added.

- 'Image shapes authority' -

Another emblematic Sheinbaum choice was the dress she wore for her October 2024 swearing-in: a knee-length, ivory creation with embroidered wildflowers cascading down one side.

The upper part was left plain "so that the presidential sash would stand out," recalled Trujillo.

The flowers were painstakingly hand-sewn onto the fabric by Claudia Vazquez, a 43-year-old Zapotec Indigenous woman who told AFP she had nearly given up on embroidery, her first love.

Sheinbaum's interest in her art had "changed her life," the trained business administrator said in Oaxaca in southern Mexico, where she now plies her art.

In the country's center, in the village of San Isidro Buen Progreso, lives another embroiderer whose services the president has enlisted.

Virginia Arce, 48, decorated the formal gown Sheinbaum wore in September when she became the first woman to give the Cry of Independence -- a call for revolt against Spanish rule still celebrated every year.

"The president chose the tones and a bird she really liked --it was a swallow," Arce recalled.

The task took her two months but the result was worth it when she saw the head of state step out onto the presidential balcony in her handiwork.

It was the day "that has brought me the most satisfaction," said Arce.

Gender analyst Laura Raquel Manzo, points to the danger of stereotyping women by analyzing what they wear -- traditionally not a scrutiny applied to male leaders.

In this case, however, ignoring Sheinbaum's deliberate dress choices would be "to deny how image shapes authority," said Manzo.

H.Nasr--SF-PST