In a bid to stop people from copying Kim Jong-Un’s style, North Korea is allegedly banning its residents from wearing leather trench coats.
According to Radio Free Asia who cited a source, leather coats have become popular in North Korea after Kim Jong-Un and other leading figures in the country sported the item at a public event earlier this year.
The source also said leather coats became a hit with North Korean women once Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was seen wearing one.
“During the military parade at the 8th Party Congress in January of this year, the Highest Dignity and all the high-ranking officials were shown wearing leather coats also,” the source told Radio Free Asia.
“As leather coats began to be recognised as a symbol of power, private clothing merchants asked trading company officials to import synthetic leather since September of this year.
“They copied the design of the leather coats worn by the Highest Dignity and the officials and now they are being sold in the marketplace.”
The source told how the police are now seizing leather jackets from such sellers, as well as people caught wearing them as the fashion movement is an “impure trend to challenge the authority of the Highest Dignity”.
“Young men protest, saying they bought the coats with their own money and there is no reason to take them away,” the source said.
“The police respond to the complaints, saying that wearing clothes designed to look like the Highest Dignity’s is an ‘impure trend to challenge the authority of the Highest Dignity’.
“They instructed the public not to wear leather coats, because it is part of the party’s directive to decide who can wear them.”
A second source said leather coats have been a popular fashion choice since the 2000s.
The added: “Rich entrepreneurs are able to import the fabric for the coats by placing an order with state-run trading companies who have partially resumed maritime smuggling,” the source added.
[Image by Alexander Khitrov via Shutterstock]