Why do we want to dress like Napoleon?

In recent fashion shows, houses have sent a clear message: the Napoleonic jacket is back, and with a force that's hard to ignore. It's not a passing fad or a fleeting trend, but a veritable wave. Brands like Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen, Isabel Marant, Kenzo, Conme des Garçons, Louis Vuitton, Balmain, Wales Bonner, Dior Homme (in Jonathan Anderson's debut), Valentino, Armani, Dilara Findikoglu, Burberry, Loro Piana, and even Saint Laurent have all embraced the military iconography of Napoleon Bonaparte's troops. Adding to this is the massive presence of these pieces on secondhand platforms and in the vintage market, where they've become coveted items. But what explains this widespread and surprisingly retro revival?

Although this garment is called a Napoleonic jacket, its origins date back to earlier times. Specifically, we find it in the 17th century with the dolman, part of the attire of the Hungarian hussars. Short and fitted to facilitate movement, it features the Brandenburg closure: multiple rows of decorative knots and bows that combine the function of fastening with an ornamental one. The hussars, originating from the Hungarian plains between the 15th and 16th centuries, became one of the most prestigious light cavalry forces in Europe. Their speed, horsemanship, and effectiveness in reconnaissance made them a model imitated by all European armies, and their attire, especially the dolman, a symbol of elegance and military heroism. Later, Napoleon adopted it because it projected efficiency, discipline, and a very attractive military exoticism: a silhouette that became an emblem of his imperial project. This military aesthetic, so well designed in its combination of inspirations, colors, and shapes, proved entirely effective in creating visual impact, discipline, cohesion, and corps pride.

From the 1980s to the present day, many pop stars have adopted the Napoleonic jacket, precisely when the trend of the moment has been theatrical, ironic, and maximalist, as a way to play aesthetically and symbolically with power. Among them, we can find Michael Jackson's military jackets as a symbol of pop majesty or the iconic yellow jacket that Freddie Mercury wore on tour. Magic Tour from 1986. The Beatles, on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandThey wore it parodying the pomp of a fictional military band, and Jimi Hendrix, Adam Ant, Beyoncé, and Harry Styles, among many others, also adopted it. Military uniforms have great symbolic power because they codify authority, and in the case of these artists, rather than asserting authority, they subverted and theatricalized it, positioning themselves simultaneously inside and outside of power.

This current trend may be visual proof that we are living through a political crisis, with the rise of far-right militarism and an authoritarianism that is gaining ground on democracy every day. And, just as movements like punk or glam did, it is essential to decontextualize highly symbolic pieces like military attire, emptying them of meaning to express disagreement. But, at the same time, this jacket may also be a symptom that history is repeating itself without having learned from its mistakes. The authoritarian and megalomaniacal essence, the personal ambition, the concentration of power, the manipulation, and the military exaltation that characterized Napoleon are the same traits that define current leaders like Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin. And, meanwhile, we, passive and failing to grasp the gravity of the times around us, merely display a jacket that celebrates the very thing we are allowing to advance, without awareness or opposition.