Dressing up the netas

Steered by the outdated style statements being made by leading politicians,students of the Inter National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) across the country want to change the way the leaders dress up. “Despite being in positions of importance,our leaders fail to make a style statement. Look at how the world cheered the well-dressed Obamas,” said INIFD vice-president,corporate affairs,Aditi Srivastava,as she shared the institute’s initiative to dress five leading politicos.

On the list are Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh,BSP chief Mayawati,Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav,NDA’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi.

“We have rolled out a pan-India contest in which fashion and textile students spread across our 180 centres will compete for the best design and look,” said Srivastava. The designs will then be judged by a line-up of celebrities from the world of fashion,and the winning designs will be presented to the five leaders by the third week of May. “They can sport a new look while forming a new government,” said Srivastava.

The challenge has seen students get down to work with full enthusiasm. “We don’t want to make them glamour icons but will definitely offer a new look by fine-tuning their dressing sense. For Mayawati Ma’am,we have kept the silhouettes simple and breezy,keeping her figure in mind,” said Arka Mrigank,a final-year student of INIFD,Chandigarh.

Sandeep Kaushik,also a student of textile design,has put together a series of patterns and weaves to make fitted jackets for Narendra Modi and L K Advani. “It’s all in handloom and makes the use of cotton,” he said.

As far as wardrobe changes go,the students want Dr Manmohan Singh to say goodbye to his white-kurta-and-blue-turban combination. “It seems he likes light shades and we have designed grey-toned linen suits for him along with khadi silk kurtas in vegetable dye colours,” said Ashish Kumar,another student.

In the sketches,Lalu Prasad Yadav,who is always seen sporting a crumpled kurta and dhoti,gets a linen suit in blue!

“It’s time politicians took time out to dress smart as that’s the way we want to see them,” said a student,echoing the views of others.

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