The Hindu Business Line : Discerning, smart... and male!

Summer time. Vacations to dream destinations where one fantasises about doing nothing at all but sipping from tall, cool glasses, ideally gazing at the deep blue ocean from one's perch under the shade of a beach umbrella. Life can't be cooler than that.

Well everybody can't have this luxury. For those who have to stay back and put the nose to the grind at the work place, summer time can't be very cool as many will tell you. Soaring mercury often causes frayed tempers and collars but one has to go on with the demands of the workplace, meetings, deadlines, et al.

So how does the male executive dress during those hot summer months when temperatures cross the dreaded 40-Celsius mark, but he has to look cool and unruffled?

The smarter ones have figured out that some hep dressing combined with oodles of the right attitude is the perfect antidote for summer blues, besides keeping one cool as a cucumber.

The advent of summer sees Kris Iyer, the soft-spoken and impeccably dressed Executive Director and CEO, Pirayamid Megastores Ltd, shed all his formal suits and dress code. Out with the suits and ties and in with cool, comfort wear is his motto when summer comes calling at Mumbai city where he is based.

Iyer loves getting into his half-sleeved shirts and comfortable pair of trousers during the summer when he says anything else is most impractical for the metropolis' climate. "The suit and the tie is an absolute no-no during these three months and I like to see my team also dressed comfortably, even if we have to travel outside the city or attend some business meets or events," he says. Shirts in light shades, pastels with either checks and stripes and cotton chinos are the preferred dress code for the workplace.

"Colour Plus is my preferred brand in shirts while Dockers makes great formal trousers which can easily make the mark on any occasion," he adds.

Not a party animal, Iyer says he makes the occasional evening out with his family or close friends, preferring to get into collared T-shirts and casual, comfortable trousers.

Mukund Bhogale, Managing Director, Duraware

Iyer's sentiments on comfort wear are echoed by Duraware Managing Director Mukund Bhogale, who also sheds his formal suits and ties and goes for the freedom and comfort of smart cotton shirts.

Based in Aurangabad where his company manufactures the Nirlep range of non-stick cookware, Bhogale says he finds wearing formal suits and ties a tiresome task when the temperature outside is touching 42 degrees centigrade and more. "Only during extremely pressing circumstances, like meeting a foreign delegation or an important visitor can I be forced to go back to my formals during summer," he says with a smile.

"Most Indians understand perfectly if you turn up without a formal suit for a meeting during summer months. Of course, personally I still adhere to the norm of wearing a suit for the first meeting," he says.

"Summer is the time when I shed my formal, dark shirts and constricting ties and reach for my half sleeves. I love getting into bright, summery half

sleeved cotton shirts and comfortable trousers for day wear to work."

But during the evenings when the temperatures drop, Bhogale is not against going a little adventurous and even experimenting with silk shirts, dark shades and even full sleeves. "Night time in Aurangabad is cool and I am even game for synthetics."

Weekends are when he really lets his hair down, slipping into a T-shirt or the occasional kurta-pajama ensemble. "In shirts I prefer to stick to brands like Arrow and when it comes to trousers, for me it is Allan Solly because their trousers have a good cut and fit me well."

For apparel manufacturers in the domestic market, men's executive wear business is a huge segment with immense potential. If clothes maketh a man as the saying goes, then the denizens of India Inc, at least a few years ago, must have been a fairly dull lot considering the fact that the most dominant colour in their wardrobe was white for shirts and black for trousers!

Not anymore says Salman Noorani, Managing Director, Zodiac Clothing Company, the country's largest shirt manufacturer, churning out a whopping five million shirts annually. "The Indian male is, today, as well dressed and discerning as his counterparts anywhere in the world.

Executives are today travelling all over the world and are very much tuned into the latest styles and trends in menswear. In fact, large numbers of them actually visit our showrooms and have been known to ask for a specific style that they saw at retails stores overseas," he says.

Which is why his company has design and sales offices in London, New York and Dusseldorf, which pick up and send design ideas and trends from across three continents to their design team in India. This enables them to get a competitive edge in business. The company's Classic menswear brand Zodiac is a familiar name to most Indians, to supplement which they added ZOD!- trendy, fashionable casual clothes to get into for that night out in town.

Noorani believes that Indian executives are a discerning lot these days and are starting to break the stereotypes with smart, new age trends that embody their global outlook .The company's summer collection, christened Florentine is a tribute to the place which is, arguably, the capital of men's fashion wear. This summer, the Zodiac look is with rich, prominently structured, soft, gas mercerized, two-ply yarns. Colour combos of Blue and Tan, Blue and Cream, Blue and Pink, with lots of contemporary checks and stripes thrown in. Also in are soft, refreshing pastels in Italian linen.

Summerwear for evenings out from ZOD! include a range of trendy short styled, slim fit shirts with side vents in linens and cottons, natural fibres, pastels shades, Tan and Blue combos in fashion stripes and checks cut on a diagonal for that relaxed and cool look.

Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International

Noorani's belief in the Indian executive's discerning, sartorial sense seems to be more than justified. Look at what Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director of Sports and Leisure event management company, Procam International, has to say about his clothes.

"Your personal style of dressing is your signature and conveys your mood and current situation. Though Mumbai's temperate weather does not allow much variation in dressing, there is still ample opportunity to showcase everybody's personal sense of style".

Singh's attire for work is linen shirts ("no stripes please"), formal trousers and a jacket when there is a meeting scheduled. "I love beiges, lime greens and yellows," he says.

Depending on the occasion and the destination, his evening wear ranges from casual kurtas or comfortable, long-sleeved, zippered at the neck T-shirts, and soft finish trousers with open shoes that don't need socks. "That is my idea of perfect lounge wear," he says.

But when it's a night out around the town, Singh gets really particular about his clothes. "For night clubs, especially if dancing is on the agenda, body-fitting vests in black or vibrant colours, complemented by designer jeans and suede/nubuck ankle high boots, is just right ... .for the nights when I decide to let my hair down," he says candidly.

Move down south to Coimbatore and you have Tibre, the flagship men's brand from Gangotri Apparels, making a new statement this summer with a new `ultralight' 100 per cent cotton collection of trousers branded as `Tycoon'. Durable and long lasting, the fabric has a soft hand feel and is treated for a wrinkle free finish and costs Rs 995. Its `Club Khakis' range of trousers, priced at Rs 695 a pair, are designed to take the male executive comfortably through a tough day at the office.

Noorani has the last word on how evolved the Indian male has become with regard to his clothing. "The styles that guys are asking for from retailers here are exactly those that are selling this very moment in London and New York, make no mistake about it."

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