Contemporary Indian menswear is being reimagined by labels that embrace gender-neutral silhouettes and deep craft traditions. From Day & Age’s folklore-infused textiles and Madraswear’s caste-conscious ungendered lungis to Aaraam Viraam’s nostalgic ease and Darwaza’s memory-soaked linens, these brands center artisans and heritage. AakarTaro pushes this further, fusing Bagru prints and Kantha with streetwear for a new Indian aesthetic.
A lot of menswear right now is being shaped by labels that keep things gender-neutral and craft-focused, and that focus is exactly what gives them silhouettes that flatter across the board, designed with everyone in mind. These brands are also built around the artisans they work with and the craft traditions they draw from, so every piece carries the story of who made it and how.
Day & Age Clothing was founded by NID Ahmedabad graduates Shreya Parasrampuria and Sharan Adka. The Jaipur-based label does all its intricate craft work at the intersection of text, textile and time, drawing on the idea that garments have always carried meaning before we were trampled by new-age internet aesthetics. The clothes are produced in small batches with artisans in Jaipur. They balance contemporary silhouettes with techniques like appliqué, hand and machine embroidery, quilting and block printing, often using locally sourced textiles. Their recent collection, Neither This Nor That, turns to South Asian folklore, reimagining mythical beings like the yali, makara and naga as symbols of fluid identities.
Purushu Arie founded Madraswear in 2017, calling it India's first exclusively ungendered label. His practice centers on the lungi and veshti, reworked with elastic waistbands and drawstrings into everyday unisex wear, garments still barred from many hotels and temples. Arie remakes them without stripping their working-class Tamil identity, drawing his visual language from Pullingo and tracing his draping back to the Sangam era. His work runs on three ideas: uncasting, unclassing, and ungendering a garment. Fashion does not sit outside the country's political and social discourse. The brand is rooted in the caste-coded signifiers built into drape, colour, and cloth quality, and consciously dismantled.
Aaram Viram was built on the idea of comfort and fashion going hand in hand. Founded by childhood friends Harsh Jhunjhunwala and Mridul Shah, the label has steadily carved out a language for itself, one that caters to an unhurried approach to dressing. Their newest collection, The Kept Things, feels rooted in nostalgia. The distinct aspect of the collection is how singular every garment feels. Nothing bleeds into the next. Each garment possesses a distinct temperament. From sheer kurtas and Banarasi shorts to beautifully, structurally tailored trousers, there is an unusual breadth to the offering.
Founded by Mohit Ahuja, Darwaza is a brand that describes itself as a visual ballad built from the designer’s own nostalgia: the colours of his mother's sarees, the embroidery on childhood curtains, the texture of sofa covers, the flower pots in the family garden. Its 2026 collection is built for a new-age menswear catalogue: linen, Madras checks, straight silhouettes, structured, with a whole lot of sensitivity poured into it.
Founded in 2022 by Rishi Purohit, Ruchika Choudhary, and Ashutosh Nagi, AakarTaro is a Jaipur-based label working out of Mansarovar and Sanganer, reshaping Indian craft through a contemporary lens. The brand blends Bagru hand-block printing, Kantha embroidery, and natural dyeing with streetwear-inspired silhouettes, building toward what it calls an Indian streetwear sensibility. Among its standout offerings is the SAS '26 Track Jacket collection, handcrafted in the deserts of Rajasthan and inspired by the vastness of the landscape. The jackets bring in hand block printing and Bagru techniques through the embroidery, set against a contemporary track jacket silhouette.
Kissa Goi, founded by sisters Ayushi and Anushri Agarwal, believes in giving people products that remind them of bedtime stories, myths, and things that are loved and passed down. Koshish is their zero-waste initiative, where linen scraps are hand-embroidered into postcards. Their most recent pieces use kantha linen with minimalistic embroidery inspired by nature. Design and art are at the center of what they do, and their clothing line is just a small part of a bigger dream. Alongside clothing, their website also carries jewellery and art pieces, and they take on custom work.
Samaaj was founded by Raman Chawla in 2023 as a contemporary menswear label, blending traditional Indian craftsmanship like Kantha, Kalamkari, and Pashmina with modern silhouettes. The brand name comes from the Sanskrit word for society, and its focus stays on celebrating and safeguarding Indian handicrafts through direct collaboration with artisans across the country. Samaaj also takes on side projects outside its core menswear line, including a pair of loafers remade from vintage sari scraps. Its design language leans maximalist and vibrant, with some of its most standout pieces built around the human form as a central motif.