Behind the Seams: the inside story of Jordan Peterson’s controversial suits

We’re talking to Dimitry Toukhcher, the CEO of LGFG Fashion House. Dimitry is going to share his thoughts about being Jordan Peterson’s tailor.

Where are we speaking? In a marquee by 800-year old Bavarian castle, and we’re about to have beer and white sausage for breakfast (don’t ask).

Before we begin, please take a good look at the photo below. A full five seconds. Notice your thoughts, what it makes you feel. I’m not wasting your time - it’ll be necessary later.

?Ok, thanks for that. Imagine the fourth wall going up again. Let’s see what Dimitry has to say for himself.

?

“We personify clothes. They are close to our skin - and because of that we automatically attribute the qualities of clothing to the person wearing them: they instantly become elegant, or dangerous, wealthy, or poor, sophisticated or rebellious.

We can’t help it, it’s beyond our conscious control. We can overrule our feelings, and withhold our judgements - but we can’t help having them. Clothing elicits emotion: it’s woven music.

I’ve done a whole series of 12 suits for JP, to reflect his bestselling book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.” I started listening to it as an audiobook during a holiday in Croatia, and then continued whilst driving to work in Estonia, where I live. Every day I would note down what inspired me in a given rule, and I would design a suit to reflect that inspiration.

My favourite suit, though, is the Twitter suit in blue and white. I was going for the costume of an edgelord, the aristocracy of social media. On the one hand, the traditional costume of the European male - a jacket, waistcoat and trousers - and on the other a subversion of everything traditional. A bright clash of corporate colours: livery which is brash and garish. This clash of corduroy commits the cardinal sin of fashion - the trousers are cut short, so the flesh of lower leg is displayed. Roll in the white socks, which are meant for sport only. It’s a balanced, conservative, provocation. The lining is filled with Twitter comments wailing on Jordan Peterson.?

This suit is supposed to create an extreme emotional reaction, to expose the trolls, if you will. I think of it as a sartorial anti-venom that serves to draw out all the poison. And it really worked. It made people lose their minds in the Tweets, to go wild in their comments.

And I just thought: it’s going exactly to plan, mwaah- chef’s kiss.? X really does mark the spot.

This isn’t just outrage for its own sake. Lighting a fire and walking away is irresponsible and adolescent. This is supposed to be a signal fire.? We need to make decisions in life based on reality: on competence and reason - and not on slogans, fashion and celebrity endorsement. It’s time to wake up.

I know this from my own experience: I’m from a Communist country. If you can’t spot the social engineering, it’s probably already working on you. If you are feeling too much - then you probably have stopped thinking. It’s time to call out our emotions - and master them. This suit and the reactions it causes reminds us to do just that, not as advice, but by taking us through the whole emotional experience.”