North Korea has banned its citizens from wearing leather jackets after the country’s ruler, Kim Jong Un appeared on TV wearing one in 2019, according to Radio Free Asia.
Initially, real leather coats imported from China were worn by the country’s rich people who could afford them.
However, a military parade in North Korea in January showed all the high-ranking officials wearing leather jackets, introduced the material to a new demographic and soon garment makers began to import fake leather to make them for the poorer class.
This reportedly angered Kim who ordered literal fashion police to patrol the streets to take the jackets from sellers and citizens wearing them.
People who complained that it was unfair to take their jackets that they used their own money to buy was told that “wearing clothes designed to look like the Highest Dignity’s is an ‘impure trend to challenge the authority of the Highest Dignity.’”
Police “instructed the public not to wear leather coats, because it is part of the party’s directive to decide who can wear them,” a source told Radio Free Asia.
Leather coats in North Korea are expensive, at least to the average citizen who makes about 4,000 won (U.S. $0.66), monthly. Real leather cost about 170,000 won (U.S. $34), while the fake leather goes for about 80,000 won ($16).
