Text: Khaleej Times

NEW DELHI , April 8: — Walk off swaying pretty fashion models! Here comes 57-year-old sari-clad Sonia Maino Gandhi. Top fashion designers across India rate her perfectly classy and very very stylish with her gleaming image and gracious looks, adding to her persona that many best-dressed women living next door may envy

Plus, this third woman of foreign origin to hold the prestigious post of Indian National Congress after Annie Beasant and Nelli Sengupta is giving hundreds of teenage fashion models a nightmare.    Almost all the leading fashion designers have stated that not a single leading vogue model can match Sonia in her style and fashion statement.

A fortnight ago, after she resigned from the post of the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council and also as the Member of Parliament, she climbed the seat of her car dressed in handloom sari with chemise tucked in and hair neatly brushed to wave at the hysteric Congress supporters.

Some days later in Amethi, her parliamentary constituency, she stood up comfortably at the bonnet of the vehicle, surrounded by her Special Protection Group commandoes, dressed elegantly as ever. While thousands showered on her rose petals, her confident and bold appearance said it all. She graciously smiled at her constituents, as if telling them “I’m around you, enduringly.

If her choice of fine cotton sari that she wears on such occasions is the talk among the urbane and countrified then her political grandeur speaks itself of her style that is widely unmatched. Talk to fashion designers and they will say that Sonia has caught the imagination of the masses by her frank style and political panache.

With Lakme Fashion Week coming to end in Mumbai and India Fashion Week starting here, the fashion designers, strangely enough, aren’t tired of talking about Sonia as a supreme style statement. Forgotten are the fashion fiasco of Mumbai. In the ‘political capital’ of India, a fashion show would not be complete without talking about this political vogue.

Leena Singh of the famous Ashima-Leena designer duo says: “I love the way Sonia Gandhi dresses herself. She is elegant and projects Indira Gandhi’s Image. She has a very classic style.” “Who wouldn’t want to dress her up? Though it would be difficult to dress up some one who is already so well-dressed, I would not mind giving her some tips on handloom saris,” she adds.

Well, the fashion engineers have some advice as well for her. Jattinn Kochhar has been a name who readily amalgamates his ‘soulful heritage with veritable urban influences’. He says: “She is supreme in style. I would give her a little bit of colour, may be some light, pastel shades that will perfectly suit her celebrity status.”

Anjana Bhargava, who focuses on ‘infusing patterns and skills from ancient art forms into the rhythm of modern life,’ is simply excited to talk about Sonia Gandhi’s dressing abilities. “She has a very deliberate kind of dressing that defiantly goes with her image. I quite admire her for that. She surely looks stunningly beautiful even at this age,” she says.

Talk to Anju Modi, whose name itself sends thrill on the walking ramp. Says a fashion analyst: “Anju makes all women, regardless of nationality, look downright sexy. She also seems to believe that one’s dressing style reflects one’s actual personality. But what has Anju got to say about the power dressing in the political circles?

She says: “Sonia Gandhi is just wonderful. I think she has the best understanding of handloom. I would love to dress her up and see her walk the ramp. She is unmatched in her style. Her saris are simply elegant.”