Justin Trudeau’s fashion diplomacy: The curious case of red kurta, golden sherwani and business suit

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shunned his 'most Indian ever' look to meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and is finally back with his usual formal prime ministerial avatar.

From wearing colour co-ordinated dress to flaunting Indian traditional attires, Trudeau, who is in India with his family for a week-long visit, has given us some serious 'desi' vibes.

The Trudeaus surprised us when they showed up in Sabarmati Ashram in Gandhinagar with matching yellow-red colour coordinated traditional Indian attire and did a 'namaste'. Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau along with their sons Hadrien, Xavier and daughter Ella-Grace sure melt our hearts when they posed for the shutter bugs with the Indian style 'namaste' and walked quite comfortably.

The Canadian PM has been dropping some serious 'fashion' diplomacy goals for other visiting foreign ministers in India. He hit the highest ‘Indian’ fashion chord when he showed up in a Mumbai event where Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan was present donning the 'groom' look, casually showing off ethnic wear, in gold-coloured sherwani. His wife, on the other hand, stayed away from gold and wore an elegant cream-coloured sari with matching jewels. And boy did she carry it well!

However, Trudeau’s ethnic wear look did not go down well with some Indians. While some were drooling over Trudeau’s new Indian avatar, others took no time to criticise the Canadian PM for ‘overdoing’ it.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was definitely not amused with Trudeau’s ‘Dulhe Raja’ look (yeah, that is what everyone has been calling his ‘golden’ look). “Is it just me or is this choreographed cuteness all just a bit much now? Also FYI we Indians don’t dress like this every day sir, not even in Bollywood,” Abdullah tweeted.

Is it just me or is this choreographed cuteness all just a bit much now? Also FYI we Indians don’t dress like this every day sir, not even in Bollywood. pic.twitter.com/xqAqfPnRoZ

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 21, 2018

Again on their visit to Amritsar's Golden Temple, the Trudeaus decided to go the 'Punjabi' way. Trudeau offered prayers at the temple dressed in white kurta-pyjama and saffron-coloured cloth covering his head with his wife Sophie wearing a powder-blue coloured punjabi suit and two of their three children also clad in traditional Punjabi outfits.

And then came the prime ministerial greet and meet, Trudeau was back to his usual self wearing crisp tailored-suit when he received a ceremonial welcome in Rashtrapati Bhavan and met PM Modi for the first time during his India visit. With a hug and a smile, the Canadian Prime Minister was warmly greeted by PM Modi in New Delhi.

Sophia was all business when she flaunted a floral print pant-suit and shook hands with the Indian prime minister. Trudeau’s daughter, however, still seems to find it hard to get rid of the ‘Indian’ inside her as she was seen wearing a salwar suit at the event. And both the sons were seen wearing comfortable shirts and pants.

However, how can we forget Trudeau's mad sock skills! He did give us a glimpse of his love for not-so-formal socks during his first official visit to India. He was photographed with Mahindra Group's Chairman Anand Mahindra sporting red socks in perfect match with his red tie and blue suit. For all those unintended, Trudeau was listed in GQ’s 'Most Stylish Men In The World’.

I told @CanadianPM (who has a great sense of humour) that my daughters would be dismayed I hadn't chosen appropriately colourful socks for the occasion. I decided to admit & have my dismal wardrobe failure photographically recorded! #TrudeauinIndia pic.twitter.com/lPTfiUGnPF

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) February 20, 2018