Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and his family’s clothing in India has sparked more conversation than his politics.
More was written about Justin Trudeau’s clothes and his ‘family vacation’ than the politics of his eight-day long trip to India as the prime minister of Canada. The first family of Canada visited historic places and posed for photographs in ethnic Indian clothes.
On state visits to foreign countries, sartorial statements are as important and symbolic as diplomatic statements.
However, Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, tweeted Wednesday about how the Trudeau family’s clothes are a “bit much”.
The family has been photographed in different outfits at the locations they’ve travelled to, including the Taj Mahal, Sabarmati Ashram and the Golden Temple.
Trudeau was also decked in a sherwani for his meeting with Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan on Tuesday in Mumbai.
In the past, Indian clothes worn by foreign leaders have captured the national attention. Princess Diana wore a kurta with a dupatta during a state visit in 1992. While all the BRICS leaders, including Russia’s Vladamir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, wore ‘Indian (Nehru) jackets’ in 2016, popularised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Justin Trudeau’s visit to India, which has so far been fraught with some tension, is no different: his clothes have sparked quite a conversation.
Vogue reported that the bright yellow kurta Sophie Grégoire Trudeau wore at Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat has been made by Indian designer Anita Dongre.