Say goodbye to the black tux and warm up to its swish blue avatar! Over the last few seasons, men on the red carpet have opted for tuxes in shades of midnight blue, carbon blue and cobalt blue like never before. Also, it's the era of printed evening jackets and woven tuxedos with designers like Troy Costa and Arjun Khanna giving them their own unique twist.
Arjun, who has done a line of woven tuxedos this season says, "I have worked on brocade and jamdani tuxedos, which have an Indian feel and go well with the weddings."
Internationally, designers like Christopher Bailey have done blue tuxes with stovepipe pants and at Cannes this year, some of Dior Homme tux were also in this hue. Ryan Gosling, Luca Argentero, Kevin Spacey and Daniel Bruhl dazzled in the shades of blue and Indian celebs like Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor opted for blue Troy Costa tuxedos.
It's the era of Godfather
Troy Costa was perhaps the first designer to showcase a midnight blue tux in 2011 and later the trend trickled down across the board. "The transition from black to midnight blue happened two years ago. Now the blue tone has got brighter. For 2015, I have done tux jackets and pants in different colours. At IIFA, both Hrithik and Shahid were skeptical to wear contrasting bold jacket and black trouser combo but later they rocked it. In fact scarlet red with big lapels is the new tuxedo which I did for a wedding abroad. Besides, I am doing tux in bold, printed colours. Purple is another major colour for 2015. It's the era of the Godfather. Double breasted two to close broad lapel suits are the way ahead. Earlier double breasted suits used to have broader cut but today they are leaner and much close to the body," says Costa.
Midnight blue is the new 'black'
In India, people are still stuck in the black tux routine. "More than blue, I'd say midnight blue is the new black. We are playing with this colour a lot. However, people in India are fixated on how a tux has to be black. In fact, some of them are also not comfortable wearing pants with satin stripes and think that'll make them look like a waiter," says designer Arjun Khanna.
Tux as a costume
Arjun seems peeved with the fact that people haven't warmed up to the real sartorial flair of a tux. "In India, men don't really see tux as a sartorial pick for a black tie affair and there's no flair. Instead they see it as a 'costume'. During weddings, they host a 'tuxedo night'," says Khanna.
Contrasting jacket and trousers
The evolution of tuxedo is perhaps an offshoot of the global menswear metamorphosis when colours are becoming all the more daring. Arjun adds, "Black and blue work well especially in a tuxedo. If you add any other colour say a wine tone, the flavour and formality of a tux is lost. It ceases to be a tuxedo and becomes a smoking or a dinner jacket."
Men in the blue tux
Ryan Gosling at Cannes
Daniel Bruhl at Cannes
Luca Argentero at Cannes
Hrithik Roshan at IIFA
DJIMON HOUNSOU at Cannes
John Travolta at Cannes
Chiwetel Ejiofor at BAFTA 2014
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