Lakmē Fashion Week X FDCI: Inside Narratives Shaping New-Age Menswear

At Lakmé Fashion Week X FDCI, The Boy’s Club opened the week with a format that resisted cohesion.

Instead of a unified menswear narrative, the showcase presented four parallel directions—each rooted in a different approach to material, structure, and occasion dressing. The result was less about defining a trend, and more about mapping the current spread of Indian menswear.

Countrymade: Surface as Memory

Sushant Abrol’s Cenotaph set the opening tone through surface treatment.

Faded olives, scorched browns, oxidised bronze, and stark monochromes were built through techniques like mud-resist printing, cold pigment dyeing, kantha, and raw-edged appliqué. The garments carried a sense of wear—not distressed for effect, but constructed to suggest time and erosion.

On the runway, this translated into pieces that revealed depth through movement, with textures becoming more apparent as the garments shifted.

Dhruv Vaish: Structure as System

With The Blueprint, Dhruv Vaish moved into a more controlled vocabulary.

Seam lines followed grid-like logic, echoing urban layouts, while geometric paneling introduced order into the lineup. Fabrics such as linen, cotton denim, and printed silk were used to support structure rather than disrupt it.

The collection read as precise and methodical—garments constructed with an underlying system rather than visual excess.

Sahil Aneja: Texture in Motion

Sahil Aneja’s Strata shifted attention to how garments behave under light.

Inspired by layered terrains and molten surfaces, the collection used texture to create tonal variation. Instead of relying on silhouette shifts, the garments developed depth through subtle changes in surface as they moved along the runway.

The effect was understated, but deliberate.

Vivek Karunakaran: Ceremony, Reduced

Closing the showcase, Vivek Karunakaran’s The Thangam approached occasionwear through restraint.

Raw silks, tussar, Kanjeevarams, and organza were rendered in muted golds, ecru, and earthen tones, with controlled accents of navy and teal. The focus remained on texture and tonal layering rather than embellishment.

Actor Siddharth opened the segment in a brown silk coat paired with draped dhoti trousers, setting the visual language—ceremonial, but measured.

Opening Without a Single Direction

As the first show of the week, The Boy’s Club did not attempt to establish a dominant menswear trend.

Instead, it presented a range:

• Surface-led storytelling through craft and treatment
• Structured, system-driven construction
• Texture-led movement and light interaction
• Ceremonial dressing grounded in restraint

The absence of a singular direction felt intentional. Rather than consolidating menswear into one narrative, the showcase positioned it as a category still expanding—defined by multiple approaches rather than a fixed identity.

Check Lakmē Fashion Week X FDCI Schedule

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Photo : FS Media Pro / FDCI x Lakme Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide