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A Shobha Somani creation

It's high time one forgot the white shirt and navy trouser -- the uniform of the Indian male till nearly a decade ago. Today, it's designer wear all the way. If the Indian woman has enough indigenous and foreign labels to choose from, the Indian man is not far behind.

The race to dress him up, in both ethnic and western wear, is on in full speed. As most designers have learnt, men are proving to be fastidious buyers even as they learn to don designer wear. And it is the popular ethnic wear labels that are proving crowd pullers.

Krishna Mehta

Krishna was first to dress men in ethnic designer wear. She convinced the Indian male that ethnic formal wear was an excellent style option. Innovations like the gentle Mandarin collar for sherwanis, and embroidered kurtas in shades of beige, brown and white are her hot sellers. Krishna has her signatures stores in Bombay and Delhi, but also retails from Ensemble in both the cities.

Shobha Somani

Churidars, kurtas, sherwanis and even pre-stitched dhotis, Shobha's finest moments come during the wedding season. Her speciality is the discreetly embroidered, beautifully cut Jodhpuri. Her customers travel all the way from the Far and Middle East to get their wedding trousseaux and she obliges by co-ordinating their garments with that of the bride. Shobha's label, Sushobhit, is one of the most respected in men's wear.

Sushobit's wedding wear

Shobhana and Vijay Arora

This Delhi-based husband-wife duo started their men's wear collection four years ago. And they were so successful that they decided to complement their label with a women's wear selection. Very often, their women's wear is an extension of their ethnic male line. Their label, Anant retails, from their personal store at Greater Kailash II in Delhi and from Ensemble in both Bombay and Delhi.

Lalit Jalan

This Calcutta-based designer has been true to his calling - each season, he designs 4-5 collections of exclusive ethnic wear for Indian men. His designs vary from casual embroidered garments in white cotton to natural tussore and handwoven silk. He emphasises on different embroidery techniques on basic kurta or waistcoat shapes. Though he retails at Glitterati, Bombay, Lalit also sells from his store in Calcutta.

Wendell Rodricks

Wendell's ethnic men's wear has a definite western touch. And he focuses on unconventional colours like white linen, black chamois satin, brown tussore silk or just natural hand spun cotton. Matching the kurtas are dupattas and waistcoats in matching or contrasting colours and fabrics. Pleating, pin tucking and French knots add detail to his creations. Wendell retails from his couture salon in Goa and Ensemble in Bombay.

Arjun Khanna

Arjun started off by designing some very preppy, Mafia-like western wear and then went on to create ethnic garments for the stronger sex. Though his look is very regal, very ornate (with embroidery on collars and cuffs), the silhouette is western. There is the hint of fusion, what with kurtas worn with western jackets or sherwanis with shirts. Retailing from Vama and Ensemble, in Bombay and Delhi, Arjun's creations for men, normally very flamboyant, have a strong, masculine appearance. His latest men's wear line, in embroidered black, was inspired by the sword.

A J J Valaya design

J J Valaya

There is a lot of glitter and glamour in J J Valaya's men's wear, highlighted by flowing sherwanis, slim line kurtas, churidars and embroidery. What is quite amazing is that men's wear now competes with women's wear as far embellishments are concerned. Valaya retails from his own store in Delhi, Vama in Bombay and Ffolio in Bangalore.

Rohit Bal

Rohit's men's wear is rather extravagant; in fact it can, at times, be quite unbelievable. He specialises in long flowing angarkha kurtas with Kashmiri embroidery, regal kurtas for formal wear and shawls that are dramatic in style, shape and colour. He retails at Carma (Delhi), Vama and Ensemble (Bombay) and Ffolio (Bangalore).

Aki Narula

His creations for men are underplayed. They don't cinema scream for attention because the detailing for the kurtas is very discreet. No embroidery, just some basic shapes, pleating and pin tucking that gives ethnic men's wear an elegant look. Aki retails from Melange, Bombay and Ogaan and Ensemble in Delhi.