Seven months after her husband became Prime Minister, Sarah Brown took a cautious step into the limelight as she used a visit to Delhi to experiment with global fashion for the first time.

On a trip to China and India with Gordon Brown, she waited until the final day to step out in an elegant outfit commissioned for the occasion from a British-Indian designer. She wore a kurta, a traditional long Indian tunic, with an embroidered design in pastel green and white, with pale green pyjama trousers and a light purple pashmina thrown over one shoulder. Her outfit, offset by elaborate double-hooped jade earrings, was made for her by Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, who are based in Bombay but have a shop in London.

They were among the first Indian designers to make a name for themselves in Britain and Dame Judi Dench has worn their creations for the past four Academy Award ceremonies. Mrs Brown worked with the designers on four outfits for the trip. All were off the rack, but Mr Khosla said: “We added a bit of glitz. I think she will look wonderful in all of the outfits. If you are a good person, you will end up looking good.”

Each piece costs up to £2,200 but they were loaned to Mrs Brown by the designers. The Indian company Amrapali Jewels loaned her jewellery made out of white gold, diamonds and precious stones and thought to be worth almost £30,000.

Mrs Brown, usually a byword for the type of smart but understated wardrobe favoured by Middle England women of her background, drew approving glances from her Indian hosts as she accompanied her husband to the presidential palace in Delhi for a formal welcoming reception, and afterwards to lay a wreath at a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.

The Prime Minister, who has been accused of many things but never of being fashion conscious, resisted the temptation to don a matching Nehru suit. Instead, he stuck to his trademark dark business suit and crisp white shirt, although his pale blue tie nicely matched his wife’s pastel green.

Later in the evening Mrs Brown changed into a navy blue shalwar kameez, heavily embroidered with a flower and leaf design, to attend a state banquet in honour of her and her husband in the hall at Hyderabad House, a government building in Delhi. With the suit, which was made by the same designer, she wore a chiffon scarf with navy sequins and claret shoes made by LK Bennett.

It is rare for Mrs Brown to seek to draw attention to herself but Downing Street sources said that her first foray into world fashion was a sign of respect for India. She spent part of her time in Delhi talking to government officials about her charity work to reduce maternal and infant mortality in developing countries, and left her husband as he entered a round of meetings yesterday to visit a maternity hospital in Nangloi.

On her first day in India on Sunday she opted for less eye-catching Western dress, wearing a dark brown jacket with white edging and long brown skirt as she and her husband met women from rural Indian communities to discuss women’s empowerment. They presented her with handicrafts and a statue of Ganesh, the Hindu god, as gifts.

While in China she deployed her wardrobe in support of British diplomacy, wearing Jaeger and Marks & Spencer outfits as her husband tried to boost Sino-British trade by opening doors for high-value British brands to sell to China’s middle classes.

Yet her efforts, while worthy, were not as eye-catching as those in India. On arriving in Beijing, where there was snow on the ground and temperatures were sub-zero, she wrapped up in a plain beige coat.

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