Men's fashion is embracing embroidery and handcrafted textiles that were once viewed as old-fashioned or feminine, with a clutch of modern Indian brands poised to benefit from the runway and celeb-driven trend.
Embroidery is a historic mainstay of traditional clothing in Asia or the Middle East, as well as Western Haute Couture, but it is increasingly present in Paris, Milan or New York on modern men's shirts, bomber jackets or blazers.
Designers at Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Kenzo or Gucci have adopted it in recent runway shows, while Louis Vuitton's celebrity rapper-designer Pharell Williams dedicated his entire June collection to India after visiting the country.
At the menswear fashion week in Paris on Thursday (Jan 22), New Delhi-based Kartik Research put on its second show, having joined the world's most prestigious style calendar for the first time last year with its modern take on traditional fabrics and crafts.
"It's cool that we're building something that has this momentum and is being appreciated in the way that it is," founder Kartik Kumra said in a pre-show interview.
The 26-year-old, who opened a flagship store in New York last year and counts actor Paul Mescal and rapper Kendrick Lamar as past clients, likens showing in Paris to being a footballer in the European Champions League.
"Just to get there, it means you're doing something right. And then once you're there, you want to do well in it, and so it pushes you," he said.
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Desire for novelty
Rikki Kher, founder of fellow Delhi-based brand Kardo, says the taste for handwoven fabrics or intricate embroidery among men reflects both societal change and the industry's desire for novelty.
He adds that "fashion is driven through music and young people".
Embroidery appears to be on the same route as bags and jewellery, which have entered men's fashion in recent years and blurred the industry's conventional ideas of menswear.
The enthusiasm also reflects a loss of interest in "workwear" or "quiet luxury", trends that have dominated menswear for years with their simple and often monochrome fabrics.
"Guys are looking for something different," explained Kher, who was showcasing his Autumn/Winter collection in Paris during fashion week. "They're able to express themselves a bit more."
He said he recently spotted mass-market retailers Zara and Marks & Spencer selling embroidered shirts – a sign that the trend has trickled down from runways to the high street.
Other Indian brands helping modernise their country's craft traditions include Eleven Eleven, Pero, Mii or Rkive City.
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Searching for a story
Western buyers have also noted the changes.
"We're coming out of a few seasons that were more on the neutral side... Now we want to revamp everything with patterns and colours," Franck Nauerz, head of menswear at Paris fashion stores Le Bon Marche and La Samaritaine.
"There's a real trend for embroidery, particularly of Indian origin," he added.
Carlan Pickings, who runs the PPHH fashion store in Melbourne, Australia, said she had seen demand and men's styles change radically over the last few years.
"Ten years ago, we'd never have believed that we'd now be buying things that were embroidered, colourful, floral," she said in Paris, where she was meeting brands she works with during fashion week.
Her clients want "something interesting but that also has a story behind it".
"The changes we've seen in the last five years, particularly coming out of the Indian market, but also Japan, are really interesting," she added. – AFP
