Man style emerges

An increasing number of designers are including men's wear in their collections, writes Kirti Mehta.

Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week has just started, but a trend that's already registered is the increasing presence of men's wear. While Manoviraj Khosla's collection on Day One was exclusively men's weal: there's a huge line-up of designers featuring some men's wear in their collections.

It includes Vijay Arora, JJ Valaya, Raghavendra Rathore, Gunjan & Rahul, Tarun Tahiliani, Hemant Lecoanet, Rohit Gandhi, Samant Chauhan and Shubhra Chaudhary among others.

In Lakme Fashion Week, Arjun Khanna and Narendra Kumar have always showed men's wear; this year, new entrant Digvijay Singh will also show a few men's garments.

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Men's fashion week
Will this rise in the appearance of men's wear on the ramp result in a dedicated men's wear fashion week? Experts are non-commmital. Rathi Vinay Jha, director general FDCI, says, "The increasing men's wear entries reflect the rising demand for designer men's wear. In the years to come we may have an exclusive men's wear fashion week, but it'll only happen if there's a market and availability." According to designer Narendra Kumar we'll have to wait for a men's fashion week. "Many designers are doing men's wear but very few designs," he says. "We need designers with skill in pattern making and immaculate cuts, for which we'll have to wait."

Exclusive presence
Designer Ashish Soni began his career with men's wear before shifting to women's wear. Now he's planning to focus on men's wear again and will open four exclusive men's wear stores. "Historically 70 per cent of organised retail market is for men's wear," he says.