PM risks fashion police on Anzac Day

Cartoon / Rod Emmerson

John Key wouldn't get into some shopping centres in his latest outfit, but the Prime Minister decided a hooded sweatshirt was what he needed at Gallipoli on Anzac Day.

Mr Key pulled on the sweatshirt, or "hoodie," during the commemorations to mark the 95th anniversary of World War I troops landing on the Gallipoli peninsula on April 25, 1915.

He was handed the fashion item by someone in the crowd and had no hesitation on pulling it on.

Hoodies have become controversial in New Zealand and overseas. They have drawn associations with petty criminals and been banned by some shop-owners.

But others have embraced them, even holding a "hoodie day" to support the wearing of the garment.

Fashion designer and commentator Denise L'Estrange-Corbet suggested Mr Key should get a fashion designer.

"A lot of banks would say don't wear a hooded sweatshirt because a lot of bank robbers wear them, don't they?" Ms L'Estrange-Corbet said.

"I can understand it's cold there, but as a prime minister he should have worn a nice black New Zealand merino wool coat instead."

It is not the first time a New Zealand Prime Minister has fallen into a sartorial controversy.

Mr Key's predecessor, Helen Clark, was criticised by royalists in 2002 for wearing trousers to a state banquet for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip during their visit to New Zealand.