THE MINORITY REPORT

In fashion history,it is women’s wardrobes and their bodies that have been the site of change as well as preservation of culture. Women are the front-runners of fashion evolution but they are also the keepers of tradition,I argued. The debate impelled a footnote I missed: the scene gets reversed among Indian politicians who wear traditional clothes — not just khadi — like it’s a national duty. Over the decades,they have upheld everything recognised as traditional Indian male costume. PM Manmohan Singh’s sherwanis with white churidars,P Chidambaram’s veshtis,Lalu Prasad Yadav’s kurta-pyjamas,Pranab Mukherjee’s bandhgalas,Mulayam Singh Yadav’s dhotis,M Karunanidhi’s yellow angavastrams (he admitted at a gathering that they were inspired by the Buddha),Arun Jaitley’s antique jamavar shawls,Narendra Modi’s kolhapuri chappals,to name a few. The Nehru jacket which charmed numerous global brands,most notably Armani,hangs as a key piece in eclectic male wardrobes all over the world. It is also a proud competitor in the Indian Parliament and all ambitious roads that lead to it.

This trajectory has been exactly the opposite for fashionable men. With a few exceptions like fashion guru Prasad Bidappa or design maestro Rajeev Sethi,“stylish men” seemed to feel sheepish turning up in dhoti-kurtas. They equated trendiness with Western wear. Till global fashion became furiously curious about India,our “best dressed men”— as fashion lists insist on calling a bunch of rich,indulgent dressers — were those in bespoke Brioni suits,Hermes ties,who carried LV wallets and shopped in Milan for Italian leather shoes. They would favour sherwanis and safas but only for ceremonial occasions. In sharp contrast,most film stars would only dress in Indian garments when they came to New Delhi for a national award. As did politicians who left behind their khadi kurtas for suits and ties to shake hands with global leaders like Barack Obama or dine with Germany’s Angela Merkel. Amitabh Bachchan has been seen in salwars with a Kaani shawl at public functions and Javed Akhtar could well endorse a kurta brand but Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar? No sir. The two sides were playing from different sides of the fence and made no bones about their lifestyle priorities.

Now swap the two. Indian clothes as formal wear are no longer fetters for political classes who wear sharp suits,printed ties,branded accessories,blue jeans and T-shirts to work. But interestingly,they define a new fashion freedom among men in India’s haute circles. The Patiala salwar,the Lucknawi choga,dogris,Jodhpurs,a variety of kurtas with churidar ensembles and ethnic shawls are frequently seen on “stylish” men. (Let’s be clear: not just on gay men!)

If Parkash Singh Badal,the Chief Minister of Punjab,wore a suit to attend the first session of 14th Punjab Vidhan Sabha in late March,AD Singh of Olive restaurants,a permanent fixture at fashion gatherings,wore an emerald green kurta with a Patiala salwar and green jutis to welcome American designer Diane von Furstenberg. Mukesh Shrivastava,the new MLA from Bahraich in UP,wore a pair of jeans and T-shirt for the recent oath-taking ceremony for new incumbents and Lalit Tripathi,the great grandson of former UP chief minister Kamlapati Tripathi wore faded Levis with a muslin kurta. On the other hand,Tikka Shatrujit Singh,who represents Louis Vuitton in India and is always seen in dark suits,wore a delicately embroidered white Lucknawi churidar kurta at a well-attended party in Delhi last Saturday. Designer Rohit Bal wore a printed Patiala salwar and a brocade sherwani when he walked for a recent show by JJ Valaya,evoking a storm of applause. If Sabyasachi Mukerjee has given up wearing trousers and jackets on and off fashion court to look like a Shantiniketan artist in kurta pyjamas,long hair and shawls,deputy chief minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal looked dapper in a suit,edgy yellow tie and yellow turban at a February wedding in Delhi. Is it a minority report? Perhaps. Yet it is the wrestling of opposites that marks the turning point in the way we view Indian clothes.

It could lead to at least two new diversions. One: with more men on the side of Indian clothes as fashion-able,it would be easier to answer the befuddling question what is Indian fashion without taking a gasping recourse to the sari. Two,it demolishes my first argument that women are the only safekeepers of culture.

shefalee.vasudev@expressindia.com