TRENDY REVIVALISM

We also spoke to Jaipur-based Punit Balana, whose pieces are firmly rooted in the artisanal culture of Gujarat and Rajasthan. For his current collection, Balana took the Gujarati kedia and made it modern. “One of my statement pieces is an angarkha with modern touches and embellishments. I could even speak of a fully embellished kurta with fabric doris, coin work and resham elements,” the designer says. “Modern Indian menswear needs to represent that—a return to roots, but, at the same time, in a modern design language. This could include newer techniques, contemporary silhouettes or even experimental fabrics paired with artisanal techniques.”

With the khadi revival in full swing, Spice got up, close and personal with Divyam Mehta who is at the centre of it all. He collaborated with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission to design a khadi-led collection exclusively as part of the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week’s sustainable fashion initiative. “We developed a new technique of khadi denim, which is definitely something to talk about. We primarily worked with artisans and sought inspiration from the tribal pockets of Kutch. We used tribal motifs and even block printing techniques, which we translated onto the khadi denims,” explains Mehta. For the designer, the idea is to introduce an element of spontaneity, built into the nature of handmade clothing; it is not absolutely impeccable like machine made wares.

Whether it is working with art and crafts collectives in rural India, creating new forms of denim with indigenous textiles, redefining what it means to ‘dress Indian’, creating a whole new genre of Made in India streetwear or emphasising the art of Indian tailoring, the new crop of Indian fashion designers are truly making waves in menswear, season after season.