Arjan Dugal’s line ‘Vintage 2030’ combines modern design engineering with traditional Japanese motifs, as zardosi and florals become the hero at Chivas Luxe Collective Perfumes presents FDCI India Men’s Weekend 2025 at Diggi Palace, Jaipur.
By Asmita Aggarwal
He kind of worked both sides of the fashion spectrum — his father’s export house, his mother’s love for textiles and indigenous crafts. Maybe that’s what makes Arjan Dugal so confident about his menswear line he launched ten years ago.
Son of the country’s leading supermodel of the 90s Simar Dugal, who died battling cancer, Arjan was just 28. After studying economics and finance in Dallas, US, and a remote fashion course from Parson’s School of Fashion, he decided to foray into this unpredictable world. His father’s work made him adept at stitching, pattern cutting with the best ateliers in Spain and Italy. He designed for Tommy Hilfiger, Ted Baker, Pepe Jeans, Pedro to Claudia Strater.
The imposing frescos painted sunshine yellow, the chandeliers almost 200 years old once maybe lit with candles in 1860 when it was built. The stained glass windows, Persian carpets, bevy of boys, with golden hair clips and bulging biceps (not beer biceps thankfully), came in skirts, as the maharaja of yesteryear’s black and white portrait hung above watching the show unfold.
Arjan’s love music and pops of red playing peek a boo from ankle length pants, were cool. So were the brocade breeches! He was trying to tell us through his charming reds — you can wear all white and yet add fun, and make it light.
For a reality check, he worked as a store keeper for his mom, checking colour fastness to sizing in her Indian wear line. October 2014, he took a giant leap of faith, went solo, this year he completed 10 years in the business. The beauty of the Arjan Dugal label is his ability to combine design engineering with subtle crafts. His mom’s love for Jamavar, Baghs, Kalamkaris to Phulkaris, as she was a collector, he places along with sequins, and his beloved dori embroidery. Add to this mix a smattering of Persian influences, including zardozi.
His father who earlier headed Apollo Leather, before he began the export house, taught him how to work with horse tail hair, silicon tapes, dextrously employ embroidery on leather, as well as foiling, and with this he always makes textiles the showstoppers.
Being an avid golfer, Argan, felt dressing well became his idiom, thus his first line was from Ajrakhpur, combined with Mashru, a capsule collection. Kind of a bridge between luxe designer wear and FabIndia — that was his ideology. His experiments with Chintz, linen, Chanderi and silks on menswear helped him understand that new-age men like experimentation, but in pieces, not as a whole.
“I felt as I am a millennial no one in my generation really appreciates the beauty of textiles, I wanted to give them an interesting mix—ajrakh with leather in a tailored look. Not the usual red pocket square, bandhgala and breeches,” he smiles.
As women are more aware, spoilt for choice, they want their husbands to follow suit, as they can’t be ‘mismatched’. India is a country of festivals and celebrations — from Durga pooja to Chhaat and Karwa Chauth, shopping is always festive. “I follow the 80 X 20 principle, while crafting an ensemble – first will be an austere self-on-self and the rest a striking contrast,” he says.
Printed lining is his USP, plus built in pocket squares, which you can see in his couture line for men at the Chivas Luxe Collective Perfumes presents FDCI India Men’s Weekend 2025 at Diggi Palace, Jaipur. “Kora work on organza, brocade underlay, hand stitched seams, insides and piping give each ensemble a unique look. We work a lot with organza, emblazoned with Dori embroidery,” he adds, saying his mother’s memory is of him being more of a sibling less of a child. As she was just 23 when she had him, he would accompany her to various fashion shows.
Of course, this equation changed, when they diagnosed her with the illness, in her last three years, he became the caretaker. “I realised I must cope with the pair of cards that life deals you, can’t choose or plus and minus. I found my soulmate in a lawyer, who stood by me in my toughest days,” he admits.
‘Vintage 2030’ is his line, where zardozi and florals play with Japanese motifs on organza. “I have taken elements from the past, given them an entirely new treatment. Our logo is the gramophone, as it resonated with me. I have a sleek designed one at home, where I play my vinyl records, plug it in and you get the same vivacity of sound as the 50s one,” he confirms.
Curiosity made him seek crafts from other cultures whether it was Shibori or Uzbeki ikat which was fascinating as it is woven from silk velvet threads. “My mom said to me ‘Arjan you are my legacy’, those words still ring in my heart,” he concludes.