MAKING THE CUT
Indian men had not been exposed to designer wear as much as their female counterparts. However, avenues to buy and showcase men’s designer wear have zoomed with a lot of Indian designers coming up with interesting creations for their male clientele. A wide range of ethnic, western and casual offering from top couturers including Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra, JJ Valaya, Shantanu, Nikhil Thampi, Sayantan Sarkar and Masaba Gupta to name a few, has made a great difference. Some experts go to the extent of saying that if there is a kind of buoyancy in the apparel sector, it can be attributed to the change in the buying patterns of Indian men.
Bollywood favourite Nikhil Thampi, whose men’s wear is as stylish as the women’s line says, “Women’s fashion has always been ahead of and more talked about and reported than men’s fashion . However , things are changing and there is definitely a huge scope for the men’s market to grow. As designers we didn’t have enough platforms to showcase men’s wear and also it wasn’t feasible for us because the buying wasn’t proportional to the production. But now with the changing mentality of the male shopper and a lot of fashion weeks also including men’s line apart from the exclusive men’s fashion weeks, have opened up the market for us. Further, the new- found male sensibility of constantly reinventing, revamping and redefining one’s look has made it a win- win situation for themselves and the retailers.”