'Men's fashion has a long way to go'

Working with high-street labels and freelancing as a designer and stylist for over 12 years, Manish Bansal launched his label in 2012. The designer, who did his masters in menswear design from London College of Fashion, is greatly inspired by ‘London cut and tailoring’ and sportswear which remains the core of his collection. 

Delhi-based Bansal believes that though men’s fashion has evolved in the recent times but still “there is a long way to go”.

He says, “It is a great time for men’s fashion in India. There are many new and talented men’s fashion wear designers coming up. There’s a section which has started looking
seriously at men’s fashion.

But this is just the beginning, there is so much to do, so much to explore. And all
this will take time.”

Bansal, who spent many years working abroad, tells Metrolife, “I worked in the international market for quite a while and then came to India. But talking about the difference between these two, I don’t see much. India is really on the forefront of the fashion scene all over the world.

One difference which can be pointed out is that we have a whole ethnic side to look |
up to.”

The designer, who has been participating as a Gennext designer at Lakme Fashion Week, recently launched his flagship store in the capital at Shahpurjat. Bansal also showcased his summer resort’16 collection called ‘Friends & Fences’. The unisex range embodies a colour palette of indigo, white and faun, which according to Bansal relates to the “New Age”- the ability to use the higher mind to choose friendship over fences.

He has used linen and jersey to make his collection comfortable for the summer. Bansal has also used his signature bonding technique combining denim chambray with checks. Traditional Indian embroidery has been used for embellishment in his collections, which he calls ‘fences’, whereas clustered beads and sequences refer to ‘friendship’.

“Because I’m a menswear designer, so one thing that I have to keep in mind is that you can’t go for very bright colours especially in the Indian market. The more subtle the clothes are, the more wearable they become. You will see a lot of white and blue, which are obvious choices.”