Zohran Mamdani’s role on the global stage has yet to be defined, but the New York City mayor-elect has already solidified a certain look.

Classic suits with skinny ties are such a signature that he wore one to take a polar plunge at Coney Island earlier this year to promote plans to freeze rents in the city. While the 34-year-old Democrat is more buttoned-up for political outings than many of his corporate 9-to-5 peers, the Ugandan-born politician is also said to be a fan of Uniqlo, J.Crew and Dutch menswear company Suitsupply. He told GQ earlier this year that he gets his style advice from his artist wife Rama Duwaji, who recommended getting rid of skinny jeans three years ago.

The New York-based designer Frederick Castleberry, who specializes in bespoke men’s suits, said, “I think Mamdani is a good politician. He’s charismatic. He understands that given his youth, leaning into wearing the suit with a shirt and tie — and not in a trendy way, but more of a classical way — is important to his message and what he’s attempting to do in office. The suit still lends itself to that sort of responsibility especially in the cultural capital of the United States.

“While that no-tie-dress-shirt-jeans look might work for a mayoral or governor’s race, where I’m from in Texas, he’s smart to dress for the gravitas of the occasion and choose other spots outside of his wardrobe to convey youth and a kind of daring,” Castleberry said.

Pleased that Mamdani “sees the value in our offering and has found his perfect fit,” Suitsupply’s founder and chief executive officer Fokke de Jong said the company offers “high-quality suits at an attainable price point. We are always happy to see people in public office wearing our product.”

Mamdani’s preferred style is believed to be Suitsupply’s tailored fit Havanna, which retails between $600 and $800, depending on the fabric. Mamdani showed an early inkling for the power of suit, having worn a black one with a shirt and tie as a Bank Street School student, running as a candidate in a mock election in 2004. With locations in SoHo, Hudson Yards, Brookfield Place Williamsburg and on Madison Avenue, de Jong said it would be “very difficult to examine the effect that Mr. Mamdani’s shout-out would have on our business.”

A spokesperson for Uniqlo declined to comment, as did J.Crew. By his own account, Mamdani shops at a military store for thermals on 31st Street and Broadway in Astoria. At Brown’s Army + Navy store in Queens, an employee, who asked to be only identified as “Gus,” said Mamdani came in once to buy a pair of gloves. “We have regular good customers that come in on a weekly basis. We’ve been around for 34 years. He only came in that one time.” 

In the GQ interview, Mamdani described his style as a reflection of who he is and himself as a New Yorker. “It incorporates having grown up in this city. It also brings a lot of clothes from the places that I’m from, whether that’s Uganda or India,” he said.

For certain occasions, Mamdani will wear a Kitenge suit that was tailored in Kansanga in Kampala, Uganda, or a Bandhgala that was tailored in Delhi. The city’s first incoming Muslim and South Asian mayor, as well as its youngest in more than a century, has two possessions that he never removes from his left hand — a Casio watch and a ring that his wife made for him, according to the GQ interview. He also sports a ring from his grandfather’s pilgrimage to Mecca and one from his wife’s trip to Tunisia. As for the suits, they could come from a store, or on 31st Avenue, and “a totally bootleg street sale,” he said.

In terms of stylish New York City mayors, David Dinkins, who served from 1990 to 1993, owned multiple tuxedos, and was known to hold up the press at times in order to take a quick shower or to change an outfit, according to Thomas Dyja, author of “New York, New York, New York: Four Decades of Success, Excess and Transformation.” “On a clothing level, he was certainly the man,” Dyja said. 

Jimmy Walker, whose run was from 1926 to 1932, had his own tailor and designed some of his clothes. That was not the case with three-term mayor Fiorella La Guardia whose staff “had to tell him to change his clothes, because he was such a mess,” said Dyja, who is working on a book about the history of clothing in New York City. “In fact, he accused Walker of being ’too well-dressed.’”

Dyja praised Mamdani for choosing suits with “good lines” and for having an almost “’Clinton-esque’ way of looking people in the eye and getting them, or at least looking that way. But you’ve got to back it up. If you’re not actually doing things, people will start to feel that the sizzle is the thing and not the substance.”

He added, “That sends a lot of messages about how he is presenting himself. His ability to connect with the city on a visceral, emotional and honest level means a lot. It worked for [Ed] Koch [a three-time New York City mayor] until it stopped working. You can’t just rely on that. It has to be real. People smell when it becomes a schtick.”

Although the fashion sector is no longer the city’s leafing industry as it was when LaGuardia served as mayor, it remains a driving force in the city’s economy. New York Fashion Week alone generates more than $900 million in economic activity. New York City contributes $20 billion in wages, and fashion-related activities nationwide generate more than $50 billion in direct sales and support more than 130,000 jobs.

Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, said, “The CFDA has a long history of working with New York City’s mayors — from Michael Bloomberg to Bill de Blasio to Eric Adams — to support the city’s fashion industry, create jobs and keep New York the global fashion capital it is. We hope the new mayor continues this important work and look forward to partnering with the administration to ensure the industry remains strong, current and relevant.”

One of Mamdani’s former professors at Bowdoin College, Brian Purnell, described him as “funny, charismatic, empathetic, easy to talk to, intelligent and quick-witted,” as a student and in his personal life. Having stayed in touch with Mamdani, although understandably less so since the campaign started, Purnell said, “Another side of his personal style is that he cares deeply about justice and human rights. He has never been afraid or reluctant to express his disagreement with actions or ideas that he considers unjust. These aspects of his style do seem to play into his appeal a great deal. His charisma and sense of humor came through in his campaign’s message and tone of optimism. His moral compass around justice and human rights enabled him to speak clearly on issues that many voters care about.”

Having always had faith that Mamdani “would do good work in whatever path he chose,” Purnell said, “When he was my student there was no indication that he would seek out opportunities that would lead to him entering electoral politics, running for office or becoming globally prominent. The calling to public service through politics is something he found and answered during the years after he graduated from Bowdoin.”

In less than eight weeks, Mamdani will be officially sworn in as New York City’s 111th mayor and his policies will start to take shape. As for whether his panache for suits will influence others, Castleberry does not anticipate that will happen. “I don’t believe that politics really influence fashion. Politics is always looking backward. In terms of what’s happening on the street, that’s typically forward to more cultural [forces like] Hollywood or even high fashion,” he said. “Rarely does society or the streets take their cues from the political realm.”