Recent months have confirmed that Akshata Murty, the Prime Minister’s wife who was once a fashion designer, has settled into a bolder fashion stride.
Today proved no exception, as she appeared hand-in-hand with Rishi Sunak in Manchester, where the Prime Minister delivered his speech at the Conservative Party Conference. Murty herself addressed the crowd, saying “Just as with our girls, he [Sunak] wants the next generation to grow up in a country which offers them opportunity and home.” She went on to speak to her husband directly: “I hope you also know how proud you make our girls and me every single day,” she said.
For the occasion? Conference coral. Her block shade power suit, notable for its triangular, three-buttoned double breasting and angular cut, comes from the Fold, a 2012-founded London-based brand which has long been a staple for CEO-dressing, and in the past has been worn by Catherine, Princess of Wales, her sister Pippa Middleton and Samantha Cameron. The 100 per cent wool blazer, named the Abbeville jacket, and matching slacks, the Esme slim-leg trousers, are RRP £585 and £325, respectively. Both are currently on sale.
“It’s a timeless style that’s stylish and functional, perfect for those big moments when you need to feel and look your best,” says Polly McMaster, CEO and co-founder of the Fold. “At the Fold we dress women to achieve their ambitions.”
Eschewing the statement necklaces of Tory-women-past (see Theresa May, ad infinitum) Murty topped off with a pair of bold gold hoop earrings and black, block high heels. The look comes after she found success with vivid, block colour dressing. Most notably, the vibrant pop fuschia cashmere sweater and bright green trousers which hit headlines in May, when she disembarked an aircraft in Japan for the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Earlier in the day, Murty re-wore her black, burgundy, white and blue striped knitted dress from Jigsaw. The £225 outfit is a collaboration with Collagerie, the shopping platform co-founded by longtime, former British Vogue fashion directors Lucinda Chambers and Serena Hood. “Her style is modern and stylish with a huge awareness of British brands,” Hood says of Murty. “Akshata has added trainers to give it a more casual spin, styling it in exactly the way most of us might when juggling a busy day of meetings..”
Murty finished this autumnal outfit with a knitted black jumper, white trainers with gold rivets and a pair of mismatched Missoma moon and star earrings, £175, which are a collaboration with London-based American designer Harris Reed, known for his championing of gender fluid dressing.
