Earlier this month at his 20th anniversary show in Mumbai, Sabyasachi Mukherjee put his male models in silk pyjamas, flimsy shirts and kaftans that were no different from what his female models were wearing. Then you have the latest campaign from Shantanu & Nikhil, where actor Jim Sarbh is in draped silk sherwanis. Elsewhere, Ranveer Singh, the poster boy of gender fluid fashion and all things OTT, has been setting social media abuzz in a yellow plaid suit by Dhruv Kapoor.
In the South, Chennai-based multi-brand store, Evoluzione, is introducing its Men’s Sartorial Edit next month — “curating young designers who are questioning silhouettes and experimenting with fits and prints” — and in Mumbai, bespoke shoe and eyewear trunk shows are paying more attention to what men want. “Terms like androgyny, un-binary and genderless are gaining traction,” opines Vijendra Bhardwaj, (former) fashion director of GQ India. “There’s an extreme melding of elements of womenswear and menswear, and questioning and redefining the notions of masculinity.” And this is creating “new industry and opportunity”, feels Nikhil Mehra, of Delhi-based brand Shantanu & Nikhil, who adds, “The next five to six years belong to men.” We speak with 14 catalysts — designers, stylists and retailers — on their new collections and where menswear is heading in India.
Ujjawal Dubey
Jackets as enhancers
With gender-fluid drapes and focus on fabric, Antar-Agni is also addressing “that small percentage of authors, bloggers, creative and sportspeople who will get our philosophy”, says Dubey, 31, who hails from Gorakhpur in UP. At his first show five years ago, about 30% of his customers for menswear were women. “So we brought in androgyny. We proved that drapes and cuts are important, with focus on the ‘wearability factor and how the fabric falls on your shoulder, how you control the lines around the body”. Sneakers work well with this label, and he introduced jackets last year. He calls them “enhancers — one layer that you can add on to any outfit”. With this season’s Into the Light collection, Dubey has explored “simplicity and freedom from inhibitions and stereotypes”.
Lessons from Woolmark
“I work on motifs and patterns that are my own, and do not focus on Baroque or Rococo fashion. The Woolmark experience was a year-long process by which time I was literally dreaming about sheep. I even went to see a farm, with sheep, with the intention of buying it! But seriously, it made me more intense in my process. from my very first show in 2014.”
Keeping it simple
“I have been working on linen and zari and lycra blends, with subtle ari work. The original idea was not to colour block but to break the monotony with flashes of skin on the wrist, ankle, chest. We collaborate with master weavers in clusters in Bhagalpur and Meerut. And Malkha has been sourced from Andhra Pradesh from the very beginning.”
Raghavendra Rathore
Edgy bandhgalas
“Our winter is not really winter, so the focus of menswear is on summer. In the global context, this makes international brands uneasy. Can India ever be a global player in the segment, or is it fair to be compared as a tropical outpost for international brands?” asks the designer, whose brand is synonymous with bandhgalas and jodhpurs. The signature silhouette gets a futuristic treatment in Rathore’s latest collection: it can be seen “in the cut of the clothes, which resonates an edgy story”, he says, adding that sustainable embroideries and other tailoring techniques complement it. When it comes to everyday wear, he says, “Pret is the heartbeat of most brands oscillating in the mid segment, which requires a price-sensitive approach. This makes it an integral part of the menswear business.”
Shantanu & Nikhil
Working the drape
Nikhil Mehra made his first draped kurta four years ago to wear to a party. “I got so many eyeballs initially, looking askance, but by the end, a lot of people loved it. We realised then that men were starving for individuality,” he recalls. Their designs for men “waiting to be validated through design”, encompasses gender fluid silhouettes, military chic and now, Indian culture. “I think design will start becoming a language of where you are from and who you are. Textiles and cultural influences from specific regions, like tribal prints or Kerala’s dance forms like theyyam, will get popular on jackets and T-shirts, in contemporary forms. Our next collection will focus on old folk tales,” he says.
Troy Costa
Ready for unconventional suits
Known for his sharp suits, the Mumbai-based designer is introducing a diffusion line, which explores futuristic urban street style. “We are willingly accepting the western wave but the technicalities of a suit are disregarded. It is tailored but in a softer, more urban street way,” says Costa, who also favours the suit+sneaker trend. Referring to the international trend of boxy suits, he adds, “Men in India have healthy body types. They need well-fitted suits to conceal the necessary and accentuate lean proportions.”
Shani Himanshu
Push for khadi denim
“We use a lot of common fabric [like khadi denim and ari silk] for men and women. Many pick up feminine prints because of the androgynous silhouettes,” says Himanshu, co-founder of Delhi-based 11.11/eleven eleven. Experimenting with kalamkari and bandini for their spring summer ’19, he believes the growth of men’s fashion is hampered by the lack of a market. “Is there a single designer store that is only about men?” he asks, adding that more education is needed too. “There is no Masters in menswear still!”
Suket Dhir
Summer bomber jackets in Jamdani
This quirky designer who has just introduced summer-friendly Mulmul blazers, was on a winning streak ever since he launched his ‘bullet shirts’ a few years ago, inspired by his sartorially forward grandfather. With signatures like the double-side seam on shirts, his priority is “longevity and durability”. Dhir, 39, is thrilled when clients complain that they can never throw away his clothes. Having recently reimagined miniatures from the Pahari School on his clothes, he likes that men are encouraged to be playful with their clothes. Don’t miss the Jamdani bomber jackets, which he says “are so light, as if you aren’t wearing anything!”
Dhruv Kapur
Gender blind silhouettes
Though attitudes towards luxury spending are still strongly occasion-specific, the Delhi designer says he is seeing a rise in clients looking to buy all-day wear. “Increasingly, in metros, men are more fluid in their choices today. They don’t want to be labelled by any one particular kind of taste,” he says. Kapur, who mostly creates gender neutral garments under his brand, DRVV — “showing more masculine tailoring, with wools, tweed and flannels, on women, and softer, drapier silhouettes on men, to create the juxtaposition” — is now working on a 100% gender blind collection with fluid drapes and layers in jersey.
Dev r Nil
Print forward
Nil, one half of the designer duo, recalls, “When we started over a decade ago, people used to ridicule the kind of prints and colours we did. Now it’s par for the course; men are open to experimenting with pastels and bold motifs.” This is reflected in the mass market as well, whereas the international scene continues to have more basic collections.
Rajesh Pratap Singh
Indian aesthetics, contemporary cuts
India’s foremost menswear designer does not believe that men don’t care about what they wear. “We’ve always had a tradition of dressing up; for men, it was a matter of style and social communication,” he says. With growing economic and social confidence, he feels there is more focus now on experimental clothing. Singh is no stranger to creating options for those open to trying them, having explored indigo-dyed khadi, denims, ikat and wool in his work, while keeping to his minimalist aesthetic and attention to detailing. “Men were always textile-aware; it’s just that their choices depended on what their priorities were, whether they had the luxury and liberty to indulge.”
