Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim is attracting a steady negative stream of attention for his apparently unshakeable fondness for athleisure wear. Mr. Sim talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while walking to a neighbourhood coffee shop in Vancouver on March 2, 2023.Rich Lam/The Canadian Press
Vancouver has never been a city famous for its power dressers: Gore-Tex jackets and performance fleece are at least as common as business suits on downtown streets.
But Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, an entrepreneur with a private-nurse franchise and bagel chain on his résumé who was elected in 2022, is attracting a steady negative stream of attention for his apparently unshakable fondness for athleisure wear, frequently on display at council meetings, awards ceremonies and solemn public events.
While much has been written about the trend toward more casual attire since the pandemic, the mayor’s wardrobe has prompted questions about whether he’s gone too far.
Mr. Sim’s decision to wear a polo-type shirt, jeans, bright white sneakers and a knee-length puffy outdoor jacket to the city’s Remembrance Day ceremonies set off a round of dismayed comments on social media.
John Coupar, who dropped out of the race for mayor against Mr. Sim in the past election for a right-of-centre party, commented, on X: “Mayor shows up to honour our war dead as rep of the City of Vancouver in white runners dressed like a frat boy. As a son of a veteran, I am appalled.”
Earlier this month, at a meeting with Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow in Toronto, Mr. Sim wore a T-shirt and light jeans, while Ms. Chow was in a dressy black pantsuit. At a contentious council meeting in August he was chairing, he wore a ball cap, form-fitting athletic top and ultralightweight running shorts in council chambers. And at a Vancouver Magazine event last year where he was honoured with a placement on the Power 50 list, he was in a hoodie, jeans and runners, prompting the evening’s host to make a crack about him dressing up for the occasion.
Mr. Sim’s casual dress is in contrast to a long line of mayors before him who routinely made all their public appearances in business suits. Even former mayor Gregor Robertson, who rode his bike to the majority of council meetings and city events over his 10 years in office, wore a suit.
Mr. Sim, in an e-mailed statement in response to The Globe, said he apologizes for his Remembrance Day outfit.
“This year’s Remembrance Day was cold and wet, so I dressed in a parka and waterproof Vessis to stay warm and dry. In hindsight, I realize my outfit didn’t convey the respect that the occasion deserves, and I totally own that mistake. I will make sure to dress appropriately next time.”
But he also said he dresses more casually at other times for a reason.
“By dressing casually, I hope to break down those barriers and make it easier for people to approach me when I’m out in the community. It also lets me showcase local Vancouver brands. Our city has an incredible track record of producing world-class brands, including Lululemon, Kit and Ace, and Vessi, and I love being able to support them.”
Mr. Sim’s casual dress is in contrast to a long line of mayors before him who routinely made all their public appearances in business suits. Mr. Sim speaks at a news conference about Vancouver's green rainwater infrastructure at Helena Gutteridge Plaza near city hall on March 16, 2023.Kayla Isomura/the Globe and Mail
Canada-born Derek Guy, who comments on the intersection of fashion and power in his hugely popular social media accounts on Instagram and X, said formal clothing for politicians around the world has gone ever more casual since the 1970s.
Mr. Sim dresses like a lot of people in tech and finance do these days, said Mr. Guy, whose handle is Dieworkwear.
That move to informality appears to be more permissible for men than women.
Mr. Guy noted the Democratic Party’s vice-presidential candidate, Tim Walz, was filmed getting a staged call from Kamala Harris informing him of her decision to pick him as her running mate. In the clip, he’s dressed as though he were going to work in his garage – baseball cap, T-shirt, jeans – an image created to send the message that Mr. Walz was a man of the people – while Ms. Harris was in one of her trademark power pantsuits.
“It’s hard to imagine Kamala Harris would have worn anything like what Tim Walz did when she got the call from Joe Biden to be vice-president. She would have come off as slovenly, incompetent” Mr. Guy said.
(People with longer memories in B.C. politics will recall the minor brouhaha in 2011 over some of former premier Christy Clark’s wardrobe choices, which included stretch tops and necklines criticized online as being too low.)
Mr. Guy noted that obviously, people should be judged on more important qualities than just the way they dress. But he said like it or not, appearance matters.
“I just don’t know why you would want people talking about your clothes. It takes away ‘What are you working on? What have you accomplished?’ ” he said.
Mo Amir, the host of television talk show and podcast This Is Vancolour, which frequently covers politics, agrees Mr. Sim’s “brand of casual” isn’t helping the mayor.
“Where it hurts him specifically is he’s started to be seen as a bit of a joke. If he was getting a lot done, casual wear in chambers wouldn’t be such a big deal. But when you don’t have a strong job performance, it gets noticed.”
That’s why Mr. Amir is puzzled that the mayor continues with his attention-getting clothing choices, even while his own councillors conform to the accepted code for public appearances.
“It just becomes strange that he doesn’t have someone prodding him on this.”