Indian men’s fashion clothing is all about style, statements through clothing. The portrayal of influence and authority. But is the life style of a typical Indian man the same?

Pretty much like the economy of India being in the developing stages, Men’s fashion industry in India too is in the developing stages. The options are few, the perspectives are narrow and the incentives are less. Though Fashion is thriving in its own domain, Men’s fashion within the fashion industry is still moderately infant. Newer collections however, are unveiled every year and though much of it is a repeat, one cannot complain given the circumstances.

A designer’s aim is to design beauty, in the clothing faculty, the aim is to design am attire that embellishes further the supposed beauty of the person wearing them. In case of men, the aim is to make him give an impression of masculinity, dominance, strength. The idea then is to define his figure, twist it such that it gives a rigid, yet elegant look.

Frankly in India the men’s fashion clothing industry is doing great in terms of creativity. With what they have and what they can do, the job is impressive, the incentives being minimal, the job is excellent. Fashionable men look good in those cloths, on weddings or on other occasion.

But can a man wear, let’s say, a Sherwani by JJ or HSY, on a normal day to work?

The answer is a big ‘No!’ with a capital ‘N’ and an exclamation mark. Men cannot wear fashion oriented cloths on an given normal day. Unless the man is a millionaire and does not need to go to work or to go get groceries.

The environment is such that men cannot be, even if they wanted to, fashionable. The life style is such that whatever a man wears will look bad on him, and well whatever he wears, will not make a difference either since no one cares. The pollution, the noise, the poor implementation of services in different organization, not to mention the western concept of suits or formal dressing imposed in offices, how would a man wearing a fashion influenced clothing look.

Consider paying your bills, standing in line all sweaty wearing an elegantly designed, Kurta with embroidery and the likes. That Kurta will look no different than a plain ‘Darzee’ made Kurta that may have cost at least twice as less than the designer Kurta. The sweat would have loosened the fabric, the embroidery would then untangle itself, the colours would fade. In time the person who bought the Kurta will regret paying so much for it.

You see, the point is, the environment, the organizational culture is such that no man wants to buy fashion oriented clothing. He knows it will not last, he knows that the statement his elegantly designed dress makes will not be backed up by his life style. What good is a statement of strength and influence if you have to stand in lines and bus stops, or drive a cheap car where except for the music system, everything makes a sound.

Men’s fashion clothing industry in India is dependent on the life style of the men who would wear them, and the life style of a typical Indian man is just not elegant, nor influential.