The risk of luxury on the left, from Bertinotti to D’Alema and Conte, and the message of Schlein-Corriere.it

Modern politics is done by symbols. More than platforms and programs, leaders offer their person; or, if you like, their character. This is why Elly Schlein’s admission about the color schemer, made in a single response to a long interview with Vogue, it made such a sensation. And since we do not believe that the new secretary of the Democratic Party is completely clueless in terms of political communication and she did not foresee the uproar that she would have unleashed, we tend to believe that more than one “gaffe” hers was a message.

It is therefore not the slip of D’Alema on the thousand-euro shoes. Nor the upper-class cashmere charm of Bertinotti. And neither was the Macron watch incident. In all those cases a simple – but effective – pauperistic prejudice has been triggered: if you preach on the left and for the people, you cannot then practice a life of ease, and perhaps flaunt it. In Elly Schlein’s case, it’s more likely a choice. Risky perhaps, but not accidental. His preference for loose trench coats and cold colors is in fact much more analogous, even if opposite, to the fashion for sweatshirts which for a period characterized Matthew Salvini (with the gastronomic addition of Nutella and sausages). Or even the more discreet but no less sought-after display of the clutch bag by the lawyer With you. In the first case, Salvini intended to get in tune with the working classes and tell them: I’m one of you, I dress like you. In the second case, Conte wanted to reassure a “respectable” and elderly public who appreciates elegance in politicians (also Berlusconi with her double-breasted coat she raked in votes among female electricians, inhabitants of the provinces, middle-aged, who watch a lot of television, in whose segment she shone).

Consequently Elly Schlein too, exhibiting a style that we now know much less «causal» than it appearsis telling us something: that she belongs to the metropolitan middle class, informed about trends and fashions, evolving towards more Nordic lifestyles, jealous of the manifestations of individuality and the ensuing rights, gender-fluid and sexually free. Of course, for the right it was a wedding. Presenting the new secretary of the Democratic Party as one who spends a few hundred euros per session with the color schemer (even if the professional has declared that she is given a lump sum), is ideal for accusing the largest left-wing party of being an elitist, disconnected from the poorest classes, concentrated only on the public of the Ztl, that is, of the historical centers of the cities. And on the other hand it is true that so far Elly Schlein has communicated more with his character than with her program or his oratory. Indeed, it could be said that he talks as little as possible about politics, because he prefers instead to do it with the body, showing up in the square whenever he can, and perhaps even explaining to Vogue why do you dress like that.

But the image of the Democratic Party had faded so much, despite the variety of attempts made over time with the choice of secretaries, that a little color and glamor can only do him good. Indeed, it is possible that many militants, who perhaps read Rebirth and they never bought Vogue, can still think, like another politician who knew about colors: «It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white as long as it catches the mouse». And that is: our problem today is to curb the right, and if to do so we need to be a little trendy, let’s digest this too. But what will be decisive, between now and the Europeans when Elly Schlein will play for the secretariat, is to understand if there is nothing above the dress. That is, if the trench coat only serves to cover a political void. In which case, not even the “winter-woman”, as the color matchmaker defined her, will be able to give the Democratic Party a spring.