Just days after Sir Keir Starmer was spotted wearing a £500 hoodie from luxury French fashion house Sandro, it has emerged that a peer donated nearly £20,000 to help the Labour leader with a pre-election glow-up.
Former ASOS chairman Waheed Alli, who sits in the House of Lords, gave stylish Starmer £16,200 for “work clothing” and a further £2,485 for “multiple pairs of glasses”, according to the latest update to his register of interests.
The Labour leader appears to have put that donation to good use after he donned a chic Sandro Orion jacket – which currently retails at £519 at Harrods – while meeting voters in Brighton and pledging to tackle the cost of living crisis.
The donations were received on 17 April and 29 April and pledged by Lord Alli, the former boss of Chorion, fashion retailer Koovs, and was the chairman of online clothing giant ASOS.
Lord Alli is also the director of multiple companies including SGIF 2 investments, Silver Star Productions and SGIK 3 Investments.
Earlier this year, Sir Keir was spotted wearing a pair of £500 glasses by Danish luxury brand Lindberg, according to Guido Fawkes.
The Labour leader has now reportedly switched out his glasses on the campaign trail to a humbler pair – a snip at £220.
Meanwhile, prime minister Rishi Sunak was spotted wearing a customised £750 Tumi bag monogrammed with his initials “RS” on Wednesday.
Mr Sunak is known for his soft spot for luxury brands. While on the Tory leadership campaign trail in July 2022, he wore £490 Prada suede shoes on a visit to a building site.
Earlier this month, Mr Sunak issued a “fulsome apology” to the Adidas Samba community after he was mocked for posting a photo of himself wearing the trainers.
The PM was ridiculed for wearing them with suit trousers and a white shirt.
Asked about “destroying the fashion icon” on LBC, Mr Sunak said: “Well, I issue a fulsome apology to the Samba community. But in my defence I would say I have been wearing Adidas and Sambas and others, in fact, for many, many years.
“It’s the first pair my brother got for me many, many years ago. [I got] my first pair of fun Adidas trainers as a Christmas present and I haven’t looked back since so I’ve been a long-time devotee.”
Mr Sunak is the richest inhabitant of Downing Street. The PM and his wife have a combined net worth of £651m, making them richer than King Charles II.