Nelson Mandela, political and style icon

Nelson Mandela, the man who changed the lives of millions of people thanks to his political activity, his spirit and the constant and unstoppable energy, would have turned 100 years today. He is considered the father of the new post-apartheid South Africa and its political ability has been reflected not just in his speech and actions but as well on his outfit.

Mandela's fashion was a significant part of his public image and changed with the political era: in the 1950s, he dressed in sophisticated clothes, during the Rivonia Trial in 1963–64, he brought out Xhosa traditions with a leopard-skin kaross; and after his release from prison in 1982, he wore the colourful Madiba shirt often. The origin of this iconic piece is up to debate, some claimed that was Mandela himself to invent it. Yusuf Surtee, a clothing-store owner who supplied Mandela with outfits for decades, said the Madiba design is based on Mandela's request for a shirt like Indonesian president Suharto's.
Madiba shirts are loose-fitting, brightly colored, vividly patterned and long, the shirts were worn by Mandela with simple slacks and, often, a couple of pens in his pocket. They came in many guises – patterns include a fish design, flowers and birds, and the BBC said he "paved the way for a fashion revolution" in the South African parliament and, speaking in 1997.

The message that Madiba shirt was delivering was aligned with Mandela's politic: it was a new style of international business dress and politics. In a broader sense, the fashion choice can be read as a signal of "friendly" regime change away from strict formality and toward greater acceptance and put South Africa on the map of International politics away from Western governs. It created an aesthetic that was a weapon to the American and European civilization and that ultimately had a huge impact on the whole world.

"Excuse me, but why do you wear a shirt like that?" ask a girl one day to him and Mandela laughingly replies, "You must remember that I was in jail for 27 years. I want to feel freedom!"

Madiba's shirt was not the only Mandela's fashion operation. He founded a brand, named after his cell number. Exactly, 46664 is the clothing line that he created after being acquitted from the eighteen years long imprisonment, from 1964 to 1982, near the Cape Town offshore. The number of his cell, 46664 in fact, became a full-fledged brand, supported by the South African designer David Tlale who, during the 2011 Johannesburg Fashion Week, threw 100 t-shirts in the Mandela river as a sign of approval and support.