North Korea bans leather coats after Kim Jong-un sparks copycat craze among adoring people prompting a brutal crackdown
KIM Jong-un has reportedly banned citizens in North Korea from wearing leather coats — because they are copying his signature look.
The style-conscious dictator originally wore his black trenchcoat in 2019 and was wearing it last week when he appeared after returning following his longest absence in seven years.
Kim’s leather coat has since become iconic in the hermit country where there is a cult of personality surrounding the despot and his fashion choices.
Originally it was the communist state’s elite who could emulate their leader because only they could afford to buy real leather coats.
Then North Korean garment makers began to import fake leather to make homegrown versions.
Soon almost every North Korean marketplace was selling the coats — and before long many young men were strutting about in them.
But for the regime enough is enough and a ban is now in place as part of a crackdown on Kim copycats.
Radio Free Asia reports actual fashion police are patrolling the streets to confiscate the jackets from sellers and any citizens sporting the look.
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A source said: “Young men protest, saying they bought the coats with their own money and there is no reason to take them away.
“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.”
The leather trenchcoat has also been worn by the dictator’s sister Kim Yo Jong, who is speculated to be his chosen successor, according to reports.
Therefore it is said to have become a symbol for powerful women too.
It comes after Jong-un reportedly gave mullets the chop — banning the retro hairstyle along with skinny jeans in a swipe at “Western decadence”.
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