The outfit of a revolutionary is no simple composition. One must look both heavily imposing and impressive. More than just a fashion statement, such outfits must convey the distinct revolutionary strategy of the wearer.
“Leatherites”
During the Russian Civil War, Leon Trotsky — the People’s Commissar of Defense at the time — used an armoured train as his mobile headquarters for military and propaganda operations. The Revolutionary Military Council Train was staffed with Trotsky’s personal guard: 100 elite Latvian troops dressed in red leather uniforms with budenovka hats. Commenting on the significance of their attire, Trotsky states: “I dress my guards in red leather uniforms for their ponderous impressiveness”.
Trotsky also made a striking use of leather in his own personal attire. Interestingly, this only came about after the Russian Civil War began — a radical departure to his prior ‘dapper intelligentsia’ look. His ascension to the Head of the Red Army made it necessary for Trotsky to embrace a militaristic aesthetic: “the leather jackets were more than attire. They were a statement to, a declaration of our new, formidable Red Army”. This ‘Commissar Chic’ was not unique to Trotsky but adopted by many Bolsheviks in the Civil War period, who came to be known as “leatherites” by their enemies.
However, it is difficult to find any photos of Vladimir Lenin adorning the signature Bolshevik leather outfit. The chairman and leader of the revolution continued to wear an impeccably proletarian get-up: a long cotton trench coat with a wool mariner’s cap. This cap, popular amongst both factory workers and sailors, held a dual aesthetic significance — Lenin was recognised as belonging to the people as their helmsman, contrasted with Trotsky’s duty to lead the Red Army.
“Black is beautiful”
The use of leather was also salient within the uniform of the Black Panther Party. Its centrepiece — the black leather jacket — caught on out of convenience as they were readily available. The Panthers also chose to wear their hair naturally. The afro defied the value placed on straightened hair within European beauty standards and reflected, as party member Kathleen Cleaver states, “a new awareness among black people that their own natural appearance is beautiful”. Atop their afros sat black berets, a symbol party leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale were inspired to adopt by the French Resistance during World War II. As symbols of revolutionary activity and resistance, the black berets made a fine addition to the Panthers aesthetic.
The beret and the jacket reflected the militarism of the Black Panthers and made clear their distinctive strategy for black liberation. During the Civil Rights Movement, campaigners often dressed professionally; the use of suits, skirts, dresses and straightened hair were meant to “show” to the white oppressor that black people were “reasonable” and “worthy” of civil rights. Conversely, the Panther uniform sent no message of conformity, no want of benevolence, but portrayed a challenge to white standards and society.
The Panther uniform was not only eye-catching but practical within their fight against the racist state and police. The Panthers were constantly subject to surveillance and state-sanctioned violence and killings. Furthermore, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover declared them the “greatest threat to internal security of the country”. As such, members wore black sunglasses in an effort to conceal their identities.
Also in response to state repression was the most iconic addition to the Panther uniform: the firearm. Its main purpose was as a tool of self-defence against police brutality. To counter police harassment of the black community, the Panthers would engage in “copwatching”: open carry patrols to ensure police interactions went safely. Here they embodied the symbol of their organisation: the black panther. Huey Newton stated that “the panther doesn’t strike anyone, but when he’s assailed upon, he’ll back up first. But, if the aggressor continues, then he’ll strike out.”
As Newton teaches elsewhere, the gun also served as the most basic tool of revolution: “when a mechanic wants to fix a broken down car engine he must have the necessary tools to do the job. When the people move for liberation, they must have the basic tool of liberation: the gun.” The uniform made it clear that the goal of the Black Panther Party was revolution by any means necessary.
The uniform’s unisex appearance was also distinctive. It symbolised the proper inclusion of women in their organisation; Panther women, dressed in berets and bearing arms, were to be as militant as their male counterparts. While the Black Panther Party was by no means free from sexism, the unisex uniform recognised the power of women, their value to the organisation and the self-determination of black women.
“Would anyone have minded?”
The revolutionary aesthetic of both the Bolsheviks and the Black Panthers is profoundly militant. Both organisations communicated clearly through their fashion that this racist, colonial, capitalist world — “this narrow world, strewn with prohibitions” as Frantz Fanon outlines — “can only be called in question by absolute violence.”
I leave you with one last example of this outlined by Fanon: “Castro sitting in military uniform in the United Nations Organization does not scandalize the underdeveloped countries. What Castro demonstrates is the consciousness he has of the continuing existence of the rule of violence. The astonishing thing is that he did not come into the UNO with a machine-gun; but if he had, would anyone have minded?”.
