Women’s wear has always been the forte of Indian exporters and now with frequent innovations taking place in men’s wear, this segment too seems to have picked up some direction for the industry. The ongoing catwalks of Spring/Summer 2016 are hinting upon inspirational new styles, giving a new thrust to the contemporary man to include these present-day pieces in his wardrobe. From London and Milan to Paris, key developments included playing with minimal aesthetics, Eastern influences, and masculine looks being tempered with delicate femininity. Slowly, but definitely the stereotypical fashion is not impressing the man of today and therefore an increased focus on business casuals, pastel colours, and redefined men’s wear can be observed. With men becoming far more fashionconscious then before, male clothing has got transformed to a level that Indian exporters are making swift changes in their collections to suit the varying masculine taste…
Feminine Fascination
Taking up fabrics and sensibilities from the girlfriend’s closet, lace, silk and sheer fabrications continue to influence designers, bringing a feminine element to summer men’s wear. Adding softness to formal ensembles, Dries Van Noten created translucent pastel shirts worn with tailored pants, whereas the feminine skinny scarf made a debut at Burberry as well. Embracing the shy side, Gucci mixed and matched bold floral prints on colour pop suiting. From guipure to Chantilly, from Moschino to No. 21, designers dared their customers to take on delicate fabrics for Spring.
Pastels for the Potent
Mostly seen in neutrals, now men’s wear is getting raided by fresh minimal aesthetics in flowery and dreamy pastels. Complete with a strong emphasis on luxurious textures, clean cuts and subtle details are slowly and steadily intermingling with ice-cream hues and soft aesthetics. Relaxed pastel-hues were adorned on classic tailoring at Damir Doma and Giorgio Armani, whereas Hood By Air added a utility twist with customisable spliced silhouettes.
Utility Uniforms
Working on the concept of creating utility, practical functional styles became core staples in numerous collections. Busy with multi-pocket jackets, boiler suits and casual co-ordinations, designers added newness through military or sporty accessories. Umit Benan, Kenzo and Fendi brought back the uniforms from the streets to the ramp doing justice to the all-in-one suits. Transforming the unflattering one piece with contemporary visual appeal designers were seen creating fighter jet pilot uniforms, mechanics and race car driver overalls. Almost all of the versions seen were cinched at the waist with elastic bands and the other common element was that they were printed.
Best of Botany
Drawing on photographic inspired botanical prints, close-ups of floral, jungle inspired plants, garden vegetation and exotic flowers were seen on shirts, jackets, trousers, scarves and jumpsuits. Combining vibrant hues of forest green, orange, fuchsia and red, or worked into monochromatic prints, this season has yet again embraced florals with a modern touch by teaming with contrasting leather splicing, panelling and unique fabrications. Detailed florals are garnished on the most masculine silhouettes giving in the touch of nature in engineered styles. All vines and fruit, leaves and stems were showered upon looks at labels like Dolce & Gabbana and Saint Laurent.
Love for the East
With the overdose of Eastern influences in women’s wear, men’s wear segment is also not far from being inspired. Call it the effect of the aesthetics from Japan and China, tapping into the opulence and rich artistic heritage of both nations.
Eastern aesthetics abound in new season collections, refreshing modern designs with a hint of exoticism and elegance. Craig Green adapted martial arts uniform silhouettes with a striking use of layering and colour, while tunic shapes were fused with sportive textures and detailing at No Editions. Astrid Andersen introduced a luxe element with cherry blossom printed satins.
Caressing the Crease
No ironing allowed! Spring’s decidedly unfussy suiting solution comes rumpled, crinkled, and creased all over. The spick and span men’s fashion caressed the crease as many designers gave in varied varieties of crumbles and wrinkled fabrics to their collections. Becoming the coolest way to wear a suit, dishevelled fashion is not only eye-catching but is also relaxing and casual. These styles shown majorly in the runways of Julien David, Yohji Yamamoto and many others presented a new breed of suits, shirts, and ties designed to be worn rumpled.
Pyjama Trousers
The past several seasons have seen women’s pant legs getting wider and wider. And starting this Spring, men’s wear is catching up as well. Designers like Jonny Johansson at Acne Studios and Walter Van Beirendonck were seen turning up the volume, when they let loose their men in loose pyjamas on the runways. This year the new contender to the skinny jeans is none other than wide legged trousers. The trend is of course, being led by the high-end designers but followed by the street fashion, the loose relaxed trousers are soon to become a retail store favourite. With an abundance of 1970’s nostalgia going on wide legged trousers and even flares are making a long awaited appearance in the world of fashion, especially now in men’s wear collections.
FOLLOWING TRENDS AND QUICKLY INTERPRETING THEM IN THEIR COLLECTIONS, MANY INDIAN EXPORTERS WORKING IN THE CATEGORY SHARED WHAT THEY ARE UP TO FOR S/S ’16…
R. Mani Sekaran, GM (Marketing), Meridian Apparels
“The response to men’s wear collections that we witnessed is undoubtedly much higher this year. Buyers are showing interest in varied men’s wear developments, which are making us experiment with different styles. It has never been so exciting in this category.”
Mohd. Kashif, Marketing Manager, Creemos International/ Superhouse Limited
“The trousers are getting wider following the women’s segment, and you can say that wide trousers are the skinny jeans of 2015. With growing fashion sensibilities among the male consumers, we are taking in insights from the runways; but to convert them into viable styles will definitely take some more time.”
Pankaj Oswal, Owner, SO Design
“We are following the international runways very closely for inspirations and they have given us many new styles and concepts to choose from, but looking at long-term engagements with our buyers it becomes difficult to create something very different.”
