Indian menswear gets fused with Western styles Market for 2012

Design patterns have undergone a complete change as the new styling has drifted more towards unisex and feminine look for mens shirt. The new trends are based on wild and adventurous themes with mix n match pattern for the casual models and embroidered designs for the designer models. Mix n match of fabric, like the checks, stripes and floral matched with plain fabric, stitching and value addition have given a modern and bold look for most of the companies mens shirt range. They include piping on sleeves, multi-stitching, contrast bands on collars and sleeves.

Some designs carry dart cut or the Princess seam and curved bottom hemline depicting the feminine touch. Raw edged hemline and small pockets accentuate the hip hot look to the shirts. Casual shirts having loops both on the roll on sleeves and shoulders are doing well. Multi pockets usage on the front panels and the sleeves is making a strong appeal.

Embroidery is making a big mark in the design trend, light & heavy embroidery adorn the mens designer and fashion shirts. Tunic style shirts are showing the female look, enhancing the unisex trend dominating the mens shirts category. Bellow pockets and new styled pockets add to the casual free spirit look sought by the males. Contrast collar bands, double layered collars, contrast colors stitching, foil & flock, raw edges on the bottom-line and arm holes give a vintage and funky look, while plackets with extension etc are all the updated trends. Styling with different panel cuts, stitching; embossed buttons and pockets are the latest design executions.

Among washes, the suppliers are offering heavy washes, soft enzyme, silicon, wall blast, paper touch, heavy wash, dip dyed (with double toned colors) and rubber washes to add to the design features. Players have introduced many innovative washes for the garments, inspired by the international fashion trends, like the leather wash, oil wash, spray effect wash, bio enzyme wash, anti static wash, sand wash, peach wash and perfume wash.

Fabric base are mainly cotton and cotton blends in woven, solids in 40/40s, 120/64, 50/50s, 170/72, 60/60s and 92/88, stripes in 260/40s, 280/40s, yarn dyed in 40/40s, 2/40, checks, floral, dobby and jacquard. Besides, linen 60s, poplins, voiles and pleated fabrics are regular materials for mens shirt with elite look designs. Unigender fabrics such as gauze, crepe, cotton slubs and textured fabrics are preferred by men for their soft and convenient touch, as the latest trends. Organic cotton, which is costlier by nearly 35% to 40% to the normal cotton, is now extensively preferred for the high-end shirts.

Basic white, neon colors, dirty look, pastel, beige, lilac, daylight yellow, white and olive are the most favoured color choices for mens shirt category. However, most of the manufacturers are offering customary colors, a lot of tie-dye and over dyed colors on demand. Color themes are seasonal and vary country to country.

Market future

As in the case of other apparels in India, there has been a hike in the prices of mens shirt also and this has attributed to the high cost of raw cotton, threads, other raw materials and the increase in transportation, power and labor costs. The segment can be categorized into three price slabs. The low end mens shirt falls in the price bracket of 4.0 $ to 6.0 $, the midrange placed at 6.0 to 8.0 $ and the high-end shirts range starting from 8.0 $ going up to 15.0 $.