Indian Men’s Fashion Has Come a Long Way,  With Many known Designers Giving it Their Touch, But is it a Trend Setting Element?

Men’s fashion clothing in India has come a long way. A society where the fashion industry is perhaps the only industry dominated by women, men kind of felt left out. But with changing needs, come changing times, and men’s fashion in India is now a thing.  With big names like HSY, Amir Adnan, Deepak Parvani and the likes, one would assume a big change in trends and while there is significant change, the essence of men’s fashion clothing has more or less remained the same.

Take a Sherwani for example, in his latest collection for men’s wedding dresses this year, HSY came with beautiful Sherwani designs; elegant embroidery, intelligent use of dark and bright colours, emphasizing on broader shoulders, defined body shape. The finishing was stylish and graceful and while the costs could be explained by the effort put into the embellishment of the designs. Last year however, Amir Adnan introduced his men’s wedding Sherwani collection, and the same could have been said about his collection. Elegant designs and intelligent use of colours to enhance the looks of the men wearing them. But was it something new?

The idea of changing trends is not a change in design or colour, nor the difference in embroidery. By changing trends, one expects a change in the very concept of wearing. Men wear Sherwanis for their weddings, but instead of changing a Sherwani, why not change the idea of a Sherwani?

Sherwani is along coat garment with interesting history, it became associated with the Muslims of subcontinent around the days of Aligarh Movement until and after the division of the subcontinent. Also associated with aristocracy and elite, Sherwani was an expression of pride, a realization of identity.

Men in India are not much attached to traditional clothing, perhaps on occasional holidays or a wedding, they come to their roots and wear a modernized version of their traditional clothing. While fashion designers do what they do best, such has made, for instance, a Sherwani, something to be worn only on personal occasions where once it was a part of  formal dressing attire worn of government officials and aristocrats. Today from offices to University presentations to a formal meeting, a Sherwani is not even on the list of things to wear.

Men’s fashion industry indeed has come a long way, but it still has a longer way to go. An Indian man is not influenced by the men’s fashion industry, while the opposite is true, it need not be a positive element. For a fashion industry to change trends, it needs to influence people, give them what they like and introduce to them what could be liked. Sadly, men’s fashion industry, unlike the women’s fashion industry, hasn’t changed trends. The designers reveal their collections every year, every year it is the same, every year they change designs but the trends on ground remain the same for men.