North Korea is rumored to have prohibited leather trench coats because its leader, Kim Jong-Un, does not want citizens to dress up like him.

The coat, which he first wore in 2019, quickly proved popular among North Korean elites who wanted to display their devotion to the Supreme Leader but couldn’t buy real leather.

However, due to imitations of leather trench coats, fashion police have reportedly been sent to close down merchants selling them and remove them from customers, amid concerns that they cheapen Kim’s appearance and weaken his authority.

Police say that wearing clothes designed to look like the Highest Dignity’s is an ‘impure trend to challenge the authority of the Highest Dignity.

They instructed the public not to wear leather coats, because it is part of the party’s directive to decide who can wear them,” a source told Radio Free Asia.

According to the outlet, knock-off versions of the coat first appeared in September of this year, when illicit trade between China and North Korea was restored following a halt due to the COVID-19 virus.

This enabled traders to begin procuring synthetic leather from which to manufacture coats.

According to Radio Free Asia, they recently saw an import document that indicated dozens of meters of the material being imported.

Kim first appeared in a leather coat in December 2019, when talking with Donald Trump over North Korea’s nuclear weapons.