‘Minimal look, maximal politics’: why the black T-shirt signals modern power

The look – worn by Abdul El-Sayed, Andy Burnham and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – radiates authority and no-nonsense masculinity, say fashion experts For years the black T-shirt was consigned to the clothing category of plain basics.

A hidden layer rather than the main event. But modern politics has pushed it to the frontlines as a sartorial shortcut to signal power. The progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who this week became the first Muslim elected to the US Senate in history, made a tight black…