Three young designers on their plans for India’s first men’s fashion week
It’s a sweltering morning in designer Nitin Bal Chauhan’s studio in south Delhi, as trainees from a fashion institute work industriously on researching a “Gothic brief” that Chauhan has just given them. Chauhan, takes us around his workspace, which has outfits taking shape on male mannequins. “My menswear collection is targeted at 13- to 25-year-old boys,” says Chauhan, 30, pointing to his clothes rack that is full of wildly coloured batik T-shirts, which he plans to showcase at India’s first fashion week dedicated to menswear in September. The three-day event will have shows by 20 designers and 40 stalls for buyers to look at the clothes. The grand finale is expected to showcase a collection by two designers (undecided as yet) who will retail at sponsor Van Heusen’s stores across India at a price of Rs 1,900 upwards.

Chauhan, a stylish man himself has turned out in structured torn jeans, his long hair tied back and a handkerchief dotted with black skulls wrapped around his wrist. While his clothes spell casual-cool, his tone is serious about how difficult it’s been to survive in a sluggish market. “It’s been a tough six months with negligible sales,” he says. He is hopeful of a turnaround after the fashion week.
Chauhan, who has participated in two seasons of the Lakme Fashion Week, done three seasons with Wills and participated once in the London Fashion Week, feels that the menswear market is a feasible option. “Women’s fashion is saturated though there’s more money there. Menswear still has unexplored potential. If you do something original that appeals to young people on a mass level, only then can you survive,” he says.

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