The magic of pastels

With the temperature rising and hitting everyone harshly, the fashion world is looking forward to churn out some cooler hues. These pastel hues, especially pink and grey, are being donned by men like never before and are being used on not just shirts and T-shirts but also full suits, trousers, cotton jackets and shorts.

Designer Diya Arora, owner of the label ‘DiyaRajvvir’, says, “I am totally for this trend of pastel grey and pink getting popular as summer hues for men. Being a designer, I too have worked on a whole line, keeping the heat in mind. Along with pastel grey and pink, even pastel blue is becoming pretty popular with men these days. I feel it is a perfect combination of warm and cold. Moreover, looking at the international trends that are approaching India, these colours have been a great influence on Indian designers.” 

On how one can complete the look, Diya says, “A pastel always complements a pastel, so ivories or any neutral colours can be matched with it to highlight the attire. These hues are not only confined to morning and afternoon but can also be worn in the evening, if styled the right way. These are the trending colours and are accepted by public really well.”

The materials that are seen trending keeping the hues in mind are organic fabrics and cotton blends as they catch the pastel colours really well, unlike nylons and artificial fabrics that are not too friendly with the Indian skin. Even ‘chanderis’ and pure silks are doing rounds.

Apart from these materials, peach finish cotton, cotton lycra, lightweight silk, wool and silk jacquards are also trending.

This season, people are looking forward to colours that look dressy and make an outfit comfortable and wearable. These hues, if worked on with a little embellishment, can give a classy look.

And not just shirts and T-shirts, men can now experiment with different attires. “I have seen a lot of men experimenting pastel colour ‘kurtas’ with a nice linen jacket and they are doing a lot of drapes around the neck lately. So apart from the cliched shirts and T-shirts, one can also go for jackets, jacket kurtas and shirt kurtas,” she adds.  

With a similar opinion that these are the 2 popular Spring-Summer colours for men, designer Anuj Madaan says, “Pink has been there in the men’s wardrobe for sometime now and I feel pastel pink is here to stay for a while.The hues of grey are doing really well especially light slate grey. We have been incorporating pink mostly (old rose pink and dirty pink) in full suits, trousers and prints in shirts.” The best part about these hues is that they can be worn on any occasion, from a wedding to a formal dinner and a casual night out.

“For a casual look one can wear a cotton unlined pastel pink or grey jacket with a shirt, jeans and loafers and for a more traditional look a pastel coloured kurta with Nehru jacket can do wonders,”adds Anuj.