"Menem" and 90s fashion: furs, ponchos, and shiny sportswear

In line with other prominent politicians, and keeping the distance, just as Dick Cheney, George W. Bush's vice president, was represented in the film Vice or Donald Trump himself had his own in The Apprentice , Carlos Saúl Menem also has his biopic in the fiction recently released by Prime Video for 240 countries.

Menem , the six-episode series, directed by Ariel Winograd and starring Leonardo Sbaraglia in the lead role and Griselda Siciliani as his wife Zulema Yoma, also features performances by Jorgelina Aruzzi, Juan Minujín, Marco Antonio Caponi and Mónica Antonópulos, among others.

And while the focus is on the president's political future, from the internal campaign to the death of his son Carlitos Junior (Agustín Sullivan), the authors take the liberty of narrating the story in parallel with that of a family from La Rioja. The latter consists of the father and presidential photographer, Olegario Salas (Minujín); the mother and rising fashion designer, Amanda Salas (Aruzzi); and the journalist son, Miguel Salas (Valentín Wein). The three not only navigate the vicissitudes of his arrival in Buenos Aires but also the intricacies of the elite red circle that forms around the president.

In this series of scenes, which don't necessarily maintain continuity, the costumes, and therefore the characters' makeup, become essential to unravel the period atmosphere. "It's like a huge fashion show," says Pilar González, the drama's costume designer.

It's also worth remembering that Menem—both the person, the politician, and the series—wouldn't have been the same without his paradigmatic style of dress, with an initial period in which he wore earthy garments, denim pants (jeans in these parts) and tracksuits. Later, he evolved into double-breasted jackets, which went from warm and pastel colors to tans, grays, and blues. This, in addition to the variety of graphic ties, always with a heart knot. Not to mention his caudillo-like sideburns and the jet-black color of his hair dye.

González—a graduate of the National University of Córdoba's Film and Visual Arts program—says that the costume design was tailored to two central issues. On the one hand, there are outfits that are almost identical to real-life events and characters, such as Zulema herself being denied entry to Olivos or the now-famous walk between Alfonsín and Menem prior to the Olivos Pact. And, on the other hand, there are also the clothes for the purely fictional roles that the audience can compare to other roles that existed.

In fact, it's inevitable to link Aruzzi's role to designer Elsa Serrano, whether or not there are any similarities between them. To begin with, by the time she approached the government, Serrano was already an established fashion designer, having even dressed Norma Aleandro for the Oscar ceremony where she won The Official Story . In contrast, the fictional character is a seamstress with aspirations, but inexperienced in the big leagues. Something similar happens with the starlet played by Virginia Gallardo and with some officials close to the president.

The series does, and does, recapture the spirit that defined the sartorial duty of the Menem era. It's enough to look at the poncho worn by the president riding a white horse, the exaggerated striped shirts, or the insistence on sporty designs, made in shiny silk , purchased or developed especially for this edition.

And of course, there are sumptuous elements: the jewels, the watches, Zulema's furs, and the now-iconic coat worn by María Julia Alsogaray (Antonópulos). Although that particular scene isn't the same as the one that originated on the cover of Noticias magazine, it serves as a perfect synthesis of the transition from politics to spectacle. Something that surely wouldn't attract attention today due to the usual provocation of luxury on social media, but it would certainly be condemned for a public figure to appear wearing a coat made from a dead animal.

In turn, the widespread use of suits and suits goes beyond the series and is limited to the historical moment. For the role of the president alone, at least 30 suits were used, 12 of which were custom-made for Sbaraglia and the rest refurbished from previously manufactured ones. Regarding the ties, it is clarified that there was no scene in which they were repeated.

Also notable are the feminine sartorial proposals for both Zulema and María Julia, coinciding with the power suit trend that empowered women, especially in the 1980s.

González thought it was more appropriate to use the typologies and styles of those years to dress the characters and not limit himself to the '90s. This also explains why, at that time, fashion was always a little behind what was seen on international runways.

There are original pieces by Elsa Serrano herself, by Gino Bogani, and one in particular by Paco Jamandreu: the multicolored jacket worn by Aruzzi's character when he is preparing to open his boutique.

And if the here and now is usually linked to nineties aesthetics, including Javier Milei's manifest admiration for Menem, this question is thrown into sharp relief when we note that the use of the suit or suit is denigrated by the current president, while, in contrast, it was commonplace for all officials during the Menem era.

This absence is perhaps the most convincing proof that the political appearance of the outsiders of that time is not so similar to those of today, with their work clothes and unfriendly appearance.