PARIS (Reuters) - Just a few years after the emergence of France's "yellow vests" movement, a green blazer has become the symbol of the country's newest political star, Green Party leader Marine Tondelier.
Tondelier, whose party is a key component of a leftist alliance that won the most seats in last Sunday's legislative election, was ubiquitous in media coverage and was widely judged to have run a strong campaign.
"Marine Tondelier's green blazer, a political object," read a headline in newspaper Le Monde this week.
"Like the woman who wears it, the prairie-green jacket of the leader of the French Greens has become a media star since the parliamentary elections."
A little-known figure before President Emmanuel Macron called the snap election, Tondelier captivated many voters with her impassioned - and at times teary-eyed - calls to block Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) from taking power.
With the RN unexpectedly beaten into third place and leftist and centrist parties struggling to form a government, she has emerged as a possible prime ministerial candidate.
Tondelier, 37, grew up in Hénin-Beaumont, a northern French town that lies within a constituency held by Le Pen, and became a municipal councillor there, giving her a front-row seat to observe the far right in power.
She told Le Monde that the jacket, which the newspaper identified as a 395-euro ($430) model from French brand The Kooples, was "the most expensive garment in my wardrobe".
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In a sign of the blazer's zeitgeist status, a meme account on social media platform X called "The green jackets of Marine Tondelier" has quickly amassed nearly 16,000 followers, with some of its quirky and heartfelt posts receiving hundreds of thousands of views.
Marc Beauge, a French journalist who writes about politics and style, said the jacket worked for many reasons. Firstly, there was a clarity to a green politician wearing a green blazer. Tondelier has also been disciplined about wearing it at every public event she attends, he said.
The jacket also contrasts with the suit-and-ties that Le Pen has demanded RN lawmakers wear as part of her efforts to professionalise a party seen by many as racist and antisemitic, Beauge said.
He added that Tondelier's tailored blazer provided respectability and contrasted with the traditional image of leftist leaders as being bearded and unkempt.
"The French want people who look like politicians," he said. "Marine Tondelier got that: 'I need to look sharp. I need to look respectable.'"
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(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Sharon Singleton)