Can socks appeal benefit politicians

Identifying with something that has a mass following is an old political hack. However, the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau appears to have carved a special niche for himself as a practitioner of sock diplomacy. Ties and lapel pins have their uses but they are obviously dated for politicians who are the toast of the sockless youth. Landing on their feet in any crisis is an important political ability and adorning tootsies with garish — or gaily — patterned socks just adds to the message.

His credentials as a sock-baring member of the Star Wars fan club have been frequently underlined by Trudeau, including a mismatched pair featuring the robots R2D2 and C3PO when he met the then-Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny. That Kenny's successor, the young, part-Indian origin Leo Varadkar also chose to show off red socks with Mounties and maple leaves when Trudeau recently visited Dublin shows that sock diplomacy is well on the way to becoming the newest diplomatic tool, for a certain generation of politicians.

Whether strong socks appeal can actually prove beneficial to Trudeau, Varadkar or any other politician is yet to be established, but at least it has added another dimension to the messaging of male attire. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi should take note of this emerging political tool.