In 2011, when Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was California’s attorney general, her daytime outfit at press conferences and awards nights was the traditional jacket-and-trouser combo.

In her official portrait at the time, and representing the state in the US Senate from 2017 to 2021, the conservative pants suit was her wardrobe staple, plus pearls (a symbol of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the sorority she joined at Howard University).

Nothing has changed.

Walking on stage to address the Democratic National Convention in a surprise speech on August 19, where President Joe Biden ceremoniously passed the torch to her, she wore a biscuit-coloured (later confirmed as coconut brown) wide-leg suit.

Even our own Logie winner, Kitty Flanagan, known for her own bespoke brown suit on Fisk, paid homage to the suit on social media.

They’re more tailored, feature single button jackets and a wide leg – and come in a range of brighter colours including magenta, pink, teal and soft blue – but fashion industry designers and commentators say the power suit is delivering strong messaging on the campaign trail.

“I look at her suits, and they just look like what a professional woman wears on a daily basis in 2024,” says fashion writer Robin Givhan, a Washington Post critic-at-large.

“As a lawyer and later an attorney general, that was her look,” Los Angeles designer Sergio Hudson tells The Hollywood Reporter.

“It’s crisp, it’s professional, and she’s comfortable in something that has to work for her all day.

“Ultimately, she makes fashion work for her position, she doesn’t make her position work for fashion.”

As Vice President Harris, 59, attempts to make history as the first woman, a black and Asian American, to hold the nation’s highest office, the spotlight is not only on her campaign and what she’s promising.

It’s also about telling American voters who she is.

Importantly for Harris’ inner circle, swapping the uniform out to anything else against the Republican candidate Donald Trump – who mocked Harris’ voice and appearance in a Pennsylvania rally again this week – could spell disaster.

Her campaign has broken records for fundraising, packed arenas with supporters, and turned opinion polls in some battleground states in Democrats’ favour.

She has also proposed to increase the corporate tax rate to 28 per cent from 21 per cent if she wins on November 5, appealing to the Middle America vote.

“Part of telling the story of who you are is trying to be as clear and consistent in the story that you’re telling, and part of telling that is projected by what you wear,” Givhan said.

At a campaign rally on August 20 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Harris swapped out the Converse sneakers for Manolo Blahnik stilettos. Photo: Getty

‘Does it look presidential?’

Hudson, who has also dressed Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Tiffany Haddish and Issa Rae, reveals he first worked on creating suits for Harris after she was chosen as then-candidate Joe Biden’s running mate in August 2020.

“The emphasis was about ensuring she is taken seriously as an elected official. She never wants to be perceived as a fashion plate,” he tells THR.

“The first couple of years, the suits I did for her were only black, only navy, only grey. Now I feel like she’s a little more comfortable, so we’re designing suits in colours … I’ve done a pink suit and recently one in a brightly coloured turquoise.”

Fellow designer Prabal Gurung, who also has delivered several suits to Harris, also spoke to THR, saying “the goal now for all of us is … does it look presidential?”

“Does it look right for this moment?

“Everyone across the globe is watching what’s happening in America, and that means something to me as someone who came from Nepal, where you perceive America as the place that has set the standard for hard work and making impossible dreams come true.”

Even online suit designer website, Sumissura, is joining the chat, writing about her suit evolution to anticipating her “presidential style”.

Her statement-making suit choices “communicate her values and political messages”, it said.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in their final presidential debate in 2016. Photo: Getty

Clinton championed the pantsuit

Hillary Clinton, who spoke at the DNC this week, pioneered the pantsuit from 2001 during her term as a senator representing New York for over eight years.

She famously wore the jacket and trouser combo throughout her time as a diplomat and during her 2016 presidential campaign.

“She wore suits as a kind of a uniform, as a kind of camouflage, as a way to take the subject of her clothing off the table after having spent eight years as First Lady, where she endured a lot of scrutiny about her appearance,” said Givhan, referring to Clinton’s successive terms as first lady of the United States (1993 to 2001), when all aspects of her appearance were scrutinised.”

Clinton told delegates, politicians and Democratic party supporters in Chicago this week that “we are writing a new chapter in America’s story”.

She will formally accept the nomination on Friday (local time).

“Kamala has the character, experience and vision to lead us forward.”

And the suits.