From burnt orange leather to khadi denim Pawan Sachdeva’s journey in dressing men has been a discovery of sorts-meet the new experimental man, who likes his shirt with zippers, pants with not so useful buckles and a stitched dhoti for some extra zing.
By Asmita Aggarwal
The craziest offering by Pawan Sachdeva till now over the last 20 years has been his experimental leather line—rust, burnt orange, to shiny emeralds, not so surprisingly it was well accepted by men who maybe wanted a break from stripes, black and greys. He explains, menswear is where the real play is now—they are loving embroideries to bling, it is a no holds bar situation.
This year for the FDCI NavDhara khadi show, he discovered a loom in Naraina, that crafts khadi denim, the width is 40 metres, (60 metres minimum), not rough, rather smooth as butter, though expensive. His vocabulary is streetwear, relaxed oversized, he decided not to dye the denim, but play with washes-enzyme to sand wash to stone in innovative cuts and finishes.
The fun is in zippers, reflective tapes to buckles added in unexpected places, in all the 13 looks that he showcased on the runway at LFW X FDCI khadi show. “The new generation prioritizes comfort over style, access to global runways through social media has been a game changer. Earlier menswear was basic linen shirts, now there is an explosion of colour,” he adds.
Another interesting addition to this mélange is the lungi, that you wear every day in scorching summers, but Pawan decided to elevate it to cocktail wear. It comes stitched, accompanied by a belt and zipper. “Men want something fresh, lungi became a hit on the red carpet,” he concludes. No one is doubting its power as from Jackie Shroff to Sunil Shetty its love has been well expressed and documented.