It’s the time of the year when male ego is at its inflated best. As of now, they are no more the country cousins of the fairer sex. They are the talk of the town. Masculinity is being hailed, and women are chewing their lips in anticipation, as men will be at their peacock best at The Van Heusen India Mens Week, kicking off from tomorrow in the Capital.
Though contrarily, men are most whispered about, but in fashion bedrooms only. On the ramp, they are rare and outshone by the Venusian diaspora, as Indian men for long have been a stickler for everything unfashionable. But lately, mens wear in India is seeing the light of the day, and designers have left the safe shores to beckon style to Indian men. One such name is Manoviraj Khosla, ruling the roost for over two decades. He says, “Mens wear seems to be heading in the right direction with more men becoming fashion conscious and also willing to experiment with both different styles, as well as different colours.”
Bang on! Men are preening themselves like never before. While walking on the streets of Delhi, you will find men galore, spitting and polishing, peering at see through glasses of the stores. Echoes Rohit Kamra of Rohit & Abhishek, “Menswear is the next big thing in fashion. Men who matter to society are more aware, they know what they want, specially a signature style that suits their persona. This will surely transcend and create a volcano of demand for stylish mens wear clothing.” Whereas Rajvi Mohan, one of the few female designers who designs for men, finds her job challenging – but not as a woman, but because its menswear. She says, “Designing menswear as a woman is plain fun. It’s all about fit and fit. And as far as, menswear is concerned in India, I think its heading hopefully to a more evolved and stable ground but the designer market is yet small and needs to grow and given emphasis to so to help it achieve a level similar to women’s designer wear in India.”
In any case, Indian men have clearly veered out of that moustache twirling, muscle flexing, colors phobic being. They have seen a metamorphosis, and are experimenting with their looks. So what is the style status quo of Indian men? Rohit unveils, “Indian Men prefer classic and safe wardrobe. The first step of experiment leads them to a twist in in what they have been wearing for ages. But yes Indian men have started opening to trends colors and striking clothes once in a while. Mostly Designer Wear is restricted to well-cut Jackets and Shirts apart from wedding wear which is a different tangent altogether.” Further putting it succinctly, Manoviraj says, “Indian men used to basically prefer simple styles such as shirts but that seems to be changing with jackets becoming the new shirts.”
Effectively pushing the boundaries of subdued mens fashion while generating business for the designers, is the initiative by India’s primary fashion body, Fashion Design Council of India, to organize the India Mens Week annually. This year with a brigade of 17 menswear designers and pretty boys to brawny men taking over the ramp during all three days, we expect it to bring a good chunk of business and style along.
About the week, Manoviraj says, “The event is still relatively new so we are not expecting anything path breaking, but am sure a sufficient amount of business will be done.” Designer Sanchita Ajjampur furthers, “It has always been an encouraging platform for fashion designers and it endows with enthusiasm to keep men’s fashion going that is very inviting and it gives all designers and creative professionals an open forum to exchange ideas amidst diversity. My newest collection is a smart fusion of geeky appeal with twilled pants and crunchy cotton and trousers in treated ultrafine jerseys. I am still deciding on to the dress that I would wear on the Opening Ceremony.”
There will be enough trends spotting during the week, and Sanchita spills the beans, “Sunglasses are both functional and fashionable as it helps to shield your eyes from harmful cancerous rays sent by sun and maintaining your ultra-cool look on the bright day. The ‘masculine trend’ is even seeping into women’s fashion, lending clearly structured and clean cuts, neutral colors, to clothes that seem to have been borrowed from a girl’s boyfriend’s wardrobe yet reinterpreted in a feminine way.”
The Kashmir born designer Zubair Kirmani is all set to enthrall by his newest collection. He reveals, “There will be a dominance of colours like orange and black, modish jackets and I don’t follow trends, so I will be improvising on the chic look. Prints will be in abundance in amazing understated pieces and there are efforts to revive the days of embroideries. VHIMW shows the designers a broader pathway to the men’s market,” Finally, Rohit ends it on a good note,” Van Heusen India Mens Week is an International platform for Branding. It’s a tremendous opportunity to showcase talent. Buyers trace good work and mostly business matures at a gradual pace. But the best is that Menswear clientele is more consistent and easy to handle. Apart from the business, this season the latest trends for men’s fashion are military look jackets with lots of pockets, funky variations in Jodhpurs, batik short kurtas, quitted pants, Nehru collar jackets, antique gold metal accessories. I am wearing a hunting jacket and jodhpur breeches for the Opening Ceremony.”
