A few weeks ago Matteo Salvini, the interior minister and leader of Italy’s far-right League party, conducted a press conference wearing the full uniform of Italy’s fire and rescue helicopter crew. More recently he wore a jacket belonging to the country’s mountain rescue unit, another time a firefighter’s uniform. Images of him in a police jacket are plastered all over his Instagram account – he’s frequently sighted wearing this outfit at political rallies. Clearly Salvini is not a policeman, a firefighter or a member of Italy’s mountain rescue crew.
Saturating his social media feeds with pictures of him in these costumes is part of an elaborate ploy. Nicknamed “the captain” by his supporters, this wardrobe projects the vision of powerful leadership his fans crave. When he started out, it’s worth noting, Salvini resisted the more traditional outfits of political life, wearing sweaters and hoodies rather than suits to such an extent that his opponents dubbed him Felpetta (a twist on the Italian term for sweater – felpa), or even Felpetta Nera – a play on the infamous Italian fascist anthem Faccetta Nera.
Now it seems he’s found clothes with connotations that fit his self-fashioned image – not quite the military bravado of Mussolini perhaps, but a step closer to the same dangerous political posturing. By wearing uniforms so casually, Salvini not only disrespects those who wear them as a result of their training and vocation, he manipulates them for his own political ends. He is co-opting an identity to which he has no right.
He’s not the first politician to pull this trick. One only has to think of George W Bush landing on an aircraft carrier decked out in a military flight suit as part of the infamous 2003 Mission Accomplished event to declare victory in Iraq. Bush, whose own military record was undistinguished to say the least, got to pretend to be “one of the boys” and project his version of power. Last year, Donald Trump was criticised by veterans for wearing clothes that resembled a uniform.
Dressing up in police or fire brigade clothes might seem trivial but it highlights Salvini’s insidious attempt to align himself with state power – meanwhile, he undermines them by cutting funding.
It is easy to see through the hollowness of these gestures: he dresses himself in uniforms that the public connote with positive and honourable work – at the same time he insults, bullies and incites violence against some of the weakest in society. After a regular stream of appearances in such costumes, Italy’s firefighters union – in the wake of budget cuts – sent a letter to Salvini pointing out that according to the country’s criminal code, it is illegal to wear a public official’s uniform without qualification. Technically, as interior minister, Salvini is head of the Italian police and fire brigade – but that doesn’t afford him the privilege of wearing their clothes.
Unfortunately, he’s started a trend: Luigi Di Maio, deputy prime minister and the leader of Italy’s Five Star Movement, was photographed in the wake of the recent Sicilian earthquake wearing a jersey with the civil protection logo; just a few days ago the minister for justice, Alfonso Bonafede, oversaw the extradition of a former terrorist from Brazil to Italy in a police jacket. Repeated so meticulously, this becomes a form of insidious propaganda. Uniforms allow these politicians to appropriate the identity of a protector or saviour.
In our evolving digital world a politician’s visual image is an ever-more important commodity. Entire campaigns can be shaped by public perception of simple, direct images. For Salvini and other politicians, a uniform is a dangerously effective shortcut to power.