Sabyasachi Mukherjee is paving the way for a summer of cool neutrals with the help of his A-lister clientele. Last year, he dressed celebrity grooms like Vicky Kaushal, Rajkummar Rao and Jasprit Bumrah in understated palettes like mint, ivory and pale pink. And recently Farhan Akhtar went for a muted beige Benarasi tanchoi brocade jacket by Sabyasachi, which he paired with a matching spun silk kurta, for his civil wedding date.
Farhan’s neutral-hued bandhgala effortlessly complemented Shibani Dandekar’s pastel Anamika Khanna saree. For daytime weddings, Bollywood grooms have steadily moved towards natural tones, which are more wearable and interesting than plain monochromes. Woven, intricate pieces and earthy threadwork are also gaining ground over heavy Mughal embroidery and metallics.
Grooms of Sabyasachi: Vicky’s mint silk kurta with embroidered butis, a salmon threadwork kurta and Jasprit Bumrah’s pale pink raw silk sherwani @groomsofsabyasachi/Instagram
Farhan’s tone-on-tone ensemble predicts a big year for natural tones and minimal palettes in wedding fashion, be it for women or men. So, expect paisley prints, pastel threadwork, icy palettes, delicate resham work and muted corals to trend big in menswear this year, especially for intimate weddings. In fact, some of the best menswear looks this season have relied on modern pastels and muted pairing:
Punit Balana
Punit Balana is making a case for cooler shades like mint, lime, mustard and turquoise. Angad Bedi was recently spotted in a mint green kurta with delicate resham work, which he paired with cowl pants and an olive stole with marodi work.
Amit Aggarwal
Amit Aggarwal put a high-octane spin on men’s occasion wear with his High Breed capsule collection. Actor Vijay Varma sports a marble polymer hand-woven bandhgala.
Kunal Rawal
Luxury menswear designer Kunal Rawal is all for icy neutrals and sleek texture clash this season. Shahid Kapoor recently wore a champagne Braille knotted kurta by Rawal recently, for his sister’s wedding.
Manish Malhotra
In the past year, Manish Malhotra has explored soft palettes for menswear, with shades like lilac, eggshell, blush pink, ivory etc.
Suket Dhir
Suket Dhir, who is known for contemporising homegrown weaves, is exploring cooler tones such as ice beige, oyster grey, mustard, damask etc.
Masaba Gupta
For her newest menswear line, Masaba Gupta opted for classic and functional festive picks in monochrome prints, some pastels like dusty pink and lilac, along with some really offbeat cool hues like oatmeal, nude pink and periwinkle.