A guide for not making formal wear look boring

If you are a designer, formal wear for men isn’t exactly a space for going all out with creativity. Samrat Som, Creative Director and Marketing Director of Louis Philippe, has been with Louis Philippe for a decade now and in that period of time, he’s seen trends change, men’s tastes evolve and even certain cultural practices emerge — changes that have influenced fashion.

Clothes are every individual’s prerogative
A traditional marketing decision for consumer products is data driven. But when it comes to clothes, deciding what a person will wear for an occasion is a creative decision. No market survey can tell you what colour you are going to wear on a particular day? You can’t answer it because it is based on a lot of intangible factors. For one, it is entirely mood-based. How can any survey predict that?

Inspiration is everywhere
I travel a lot, within and outside the country. Foretelling fashion and knowing what will work with the consumers has a lot to do with intuition, too. I am also inspired by people on the street all the time. Even a carpenter wearing a ganji with jeans that has paint sprayed on it can set off an idea. Like I say, I get paid to have coffee and watch people.

Times they are a-changin’
Today there are new occasions for people to dress up. People shop before they join a gym! Twelve years back, there was no café culture. Today, ‘let’s go get a coffee’ is an everyday occurrence. And five to seven years back, one hadn’t heard of the concept of brunch. But today, it’s the cool thing to do. These pockets of opportunities have emerged over a period of time. When occasions emerge, you look for what to wear. You wonder what do you wear to a brunch?  The most interesting part of my job is seeing that cultural habits are changing and seeing if my brand fits into them.

Experimenting in the formal fashion space
Experimenting lies in three areas— the fabric, patterns and proportion/fit of the shirt. If we were to overlook the fabric and pattern of a shirt (citing that all patterns and colours more or less look similar), the fit is what is important. In India, unfortunately, 80 per cent of men wear their shirts a size too big. The reason for that is, one, they don’t have the habit of wearing a tie. If you were to wear a tie, you would buy a shirt with the right collar. Note: To get the right fit, check the collar. There shouldn’t be more than a finger’s space between the collar and the neck. Also, India being the warm country it is, most men prefer wearing loose clothes. Lots of times, wearing formal is about getting the little details right.

Men are not trend-hoppers
I don’t think men — except in Milan, France or certain parts of Delhi consciously follow trends. The thing is most of us are influenced by movies, fashion magazines, but more strongly by people around us. We see what the others around us are wearing and very subliminally start imitating them. The other factor is there’s a lot of pressure to dress well today. Companies have dress codes and today what you do is judged by what you wear.  Would you trust a banker if wore a t-shirt and jeans? He needs to dress in a certain way that invokes faith in you.

What’s trending
The next big trend in formal wear will be of colours. Then, there is this whole big trend of casualisation of formal wear— where you are mixing casual elements with formal wear. Today, people are also wearing cotton suits. The fabric makes wearing a suit in summer comfortable and it also brings in informality. The other prominent trend is related to proportions. The young crowd is into slim fits — the collars are slimmer, the jackets are slimmer and pants have tapered silhouettes, which sit comfortably on the hips and waist but are tapered down.

In shoes, the classic rounded shape is coming back with details, such as the soles are softer and thinner. There are lot of square toe shoes coming back too.