New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) Designer Smit Raj Gyanani couldn’t go bigger than this as he paid tribute to late royal-turned-politician Madhav Rao Scindia with his debut ‘nerdy-royal’ collection on the final day of the Van Heusen India Men’s Week (VIMW) Sunday.

Called ‘Royal Gwalior: Ode to Madhav Rao Scindia’, the line was inspired from the fashion culture of the royals. Noteworthy was the ‘nerdy’ influence in the collection – contrary to the blue blood when models walked the runaway wearing bold rimmed glasses and gelled, parted hair.

‘The inspiration for my collection was very simple – Srimant Madhav Rao Scindia. He was a very fascination personality. He had a charm about him,’ Gyanani told IANS after the show.

The debutant, who hails from Bhopal, had also invited Scindia’s son Jyotiraditya as a front row guest. However, he couldn’t make it to the event.

Isn’t the geeky look in contrast to those of the royal linage?

‘Powerful people are not always style icons. It is just an inspiration from a powerful person. For that matter you don’t see politicians as style followers,’ he told IANS.

‘This was my first show ever. I had to do something which was relatable, associative and wearable. This is something which the masses will like to wear. It is a very wearable collection and for everyone,’ he added.

The collection boasted of an ensemble mix of Indian and western cuts with an array of churidar trousers, double-breasted and two button jackets and short kurtas in plenty.

Why so many kurtas?

‘Why not kurtas. They are for everyone.’

The fabrics included a lot of crepe, crepe wool (for jackets), wool silk, linen, linen silk and minimum embroidery and embellishments. The numbers played with the vibrancy of basic colours like blue, purple, white, red and black.