From Modi to SRK, Here’s a Look at our Top 5 Global Fashion Icons

It’s not enough to take the world by storm with your awesome worldview – you also need to look and dress the part.

Clothes Maketh Man. At least that seems to be the mantra of influential personalities in this country of late. Be it our Prime Minister or the most loved Bollywood movie star Shah Rukh Khan (yes yes, an argument can be made for Salman) – certain bigshots have, over the years, managed to blow us away with their sartorial sense – in the process, making a ‘brand’ of themselves.

How does this help? Well, for starters, the idea of public dressing has little to do with personal style and more to do with establishing yourself as a man/woman of credibility in the public mind. Often, it becomes your whole identity. Case in point? The Nehru jacket which has come back into fashion with a vengeance, was brought into the limelight by our first Prime Minister.

You could be a lot with what you wear – and who better to recognise it than the Nekru jacket-champions of the world?

Here’s a look at some of our favourite power icons who’ve made a piece of clothing their own:

Narendra Modi

I’d probably be stirring a hornet’s nest if I argued that in the case of our beloved Prime Minister, he’s been in the news more for his sense of fashion than his governance. But whoever said the two had to be opposites? Could one not inextricably weave into the other? Be it his multi-coloured turbans (pagdis), his Pashmina shawls, his expensive scarves and kurtas – even his own twist to the Nehru jacket (he often wears one without a collar), Modi has successfully managed to carve a political persona that screams tradition with a hint of the suave.

In fact, if you’ll look very closely, his turbans are never the dull block colours that his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh used to sport. Modi’s turbans are instead, multi-coloured, vibrant – and blend in perfectly with the pro-youth image he is working to perfect.

Shah Rukh Khan

The actor, who has the ability to be sexy at the push of a button, has evolved and how. We mean sartorially, of course – he’s always maintained his King status without competition. But how does he manage to hold on to it? There was a time Khan played it safe with the classic white shirt and slim black suit combo – but that’s rare today.

What he’s learnt over time is to celebrate his every movie look. For example, in the lead-up to Om Shanti Om (a glitzy extravanganza, if there ever was one!), SRK wore the snazziest of clothes! He went all out with silver suits (on one occasion, even a purple tie with it) and was not scared to go retro – like his look in the film. The pre-Chak De India days saw him sport his sexy stubble with gusto. And more recently, before Happy New Year, which he’d bulked up for, Shah Rukh wore snug tees and denims that showed off his toned body with panache.

There’s much Bollywood can learn from the Badshah. Jackie Shroff, are you listening?

Smriti Irani

Say what you will about her educational qualifications, but our HRD minister has a distinct sense of style. Smriti Irani, who started off as an “ideal Indian bahu” on telly seems to be suffering from a severe case of Stockholm’s Syndrome – she has refused to let go of that image even after she entered politics.

But unlike Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Irani’s “middle class woman” look isn’t about being raggedy and unshapely. Her saris are always immaculate, a neat row of bangles never out of place. And then there are those big dial watches that have become her identity.

Omar Abdullah

If you’re an Indian politician, there are certain rules of the game you NEVER stray from. You have your tried-and-tested Nehru jacket, your safari suits and their accompaniments – and if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, maybe a khadi ensemble.

However, Omar Abdullah, the youngest ever Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, defied all that when he burst on to the scene.

If his public appearances are anything to go by, the former J&K CM has no inclination to look like the herd. He’s been seen wearing dinner jackets and dapper suits – like American Senators – much more than he’s been spotted wearing the Nehru jacket.

Abdullah portrays the image of a new-age politician, well-dressed AND articulate. Now, that’s a killer combo.

Shobhaa De

She may be closing on 70, but this Indian novelist and resident foot-in-the-mouth specialist is not afraid to make youthful choices when it comes to her wardrobe.

There’s a certain Maya Sarabhai-esque kind of look to her (if you remember the popular sitcom) – whether she’s in a Mysore georgette sari or a loosely shaped, bizarrely printed kaftan. Yet, Shobhaa De manages to carry off the bizarre – while also holding contemptuous court on poor, scared Bollywood starlets who make fashion faux pas. Sonam Kapoor tried to give it back once and was badly scalded. Tsk tsk.

(Shibaji Roychoudhury is a Delhi-based journalist who started with The Pioneer as a feature reporter and went on to write for several prestigious publications like the India Today Group, Scroll.in and finally The Quint. While he has mostly written on political news, he also has an intricate eye for fashion.)