Extravagance of North Korea’s First Lady

Ri Sol Ju, the wife of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, likes to carry handbags by French designer brand Christian Dior. The black Dior clutch that Ri often wears is nicknamed as "Ri Sol Ju handbag." In pictures taken in October 2012 when she was pregnant, she wore a Red Valentino’s beige coat. These were the main contents in a report issued by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service at the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on July 14.

Even a fashion-savvy people may not be familiar to the brand name "Red Valentino." It is the second brand of the Italian luxury brand Valentino, targeting younger generations than the existing customers of Valentino. Flower patterns and cute ribbons are often used for Red Valentino clothes. It is a typical girly brand but quite high-priced. A Red Valentino dress is priced at over 1 million won (approx. USD 872). Ri seems to have a keen eye for fashion and in-depth information given that she wears Red Valentino, which is rarely known to the mass. Probably, North Korean embassies abroad buy and send luxury goods that Ri chooses on the Internet or in fashion magazines.

Ri reportedly uses the world’s best products to raise her two children. It is known that Ri feeds her children with German Aptamil powder milk, which is widely known as "Gangnam powder milk" in South Korea, and uses a bouncing cradle made in the U.S. In the past, Kim and Ri were on TV wearing couple watches of Swiss watchmaker Movado. Ri’s fashionable style, which is the envy of North Korean women is backed by luxury brands.

In the North Korean socialism, the public is starved to death but the supreme leader’s wife is covered by luxury designer brand goods worth several million won a piece. North Korea strictly restricts exposing foreign brands. A while ago, North Korea’s state news broadcaster Korean Central Television aired an interview with an athlete wearing Adidas clothes with its brand name covered by white tape. However, North Korea’s first lady is an exception. The Time magazine commented, “Ri is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI at the time of French Revolution.”