Menswear Label CRCLE's Founder Varshne B Brings Dialogue to Lakmé Fashion Week 2026

The 27-year-old-Chennai-based menswear designer, Varshne B, a slight woman just about 5 feet 4inches tall and with an enormous artistic ambition wants men to have more fun with their ties, knitted shirts and bags.

Winner of the R|Elan™ Circular Design Challenge in 2025, a platform developed in collaboration with the United Nations in India and Lakmé Fashion Week, she launched CRCLE, her eco-conscious menswear label, barely a year and a half ago and on Day 2 of Lakmé Fashion Week 2026 x FDCI, Mumbai, turned heads with her collection that showcases men wearing shirts and jackets in naturally dyed Weganool, knits and man purses made from handwoven Korai grass sourced from Tamil Nadu and Kerala and a lot more fun with ties and embroidered khadi denims to quilted surfaces.

Her debut collection, Dialogue, explores the relationship between material, maker, and wearer. Rooted in circular principles and handcrafted processes, the collection foregrounded tactile surfaces, considered construction, and a focus on longevity and adaptability. In conversation with Esquire India she speaks about her label, CRCLE, and what she expects from the modern man and his wardrobe:

Congratulation on your Circular Design Challenge win and debut showcase at Lakme Fashion Week. Your collection Dialogue is such an expansive and layered theme: an exchange between designer and consumer, wearer and maker, even material and process. How did you translate this idea into the language of your showcase?

I think more than me deciding on the theme, it just happened because we work with a lot of communities and me watching them closely. I think I just really wanted to take that as inspiration and make sure whatever they're doing, that conversation extends to the one who's wearing it. Because it's high time we build that relationship with the garment, with the piece

and not just discard it.

So, I think when there's some sort of emotion attached with the product, the one who's wearing it and the one who's using it will want to hold on to it. So, the whole idea was to bring that back emotion, bring that conversation back so that it falls as one big community. So, everyone's part of our CRCLE.

With sustainability becoming an increasingly crowded space, many brands are embracing eco-conscious practices. What sets CRCLE apart in this evolving landscape?

it's not just about "Okay, are you making something, someone's using it and yeah, that's being sustainable". It's about making this entire circularity a way of living. It's basically a lifestyle that builds around the brand.

I think the way we approach the whole concept of sustainability and circularity is what makes us completely unique. It's not just about one particular product or one particular fabric that we're using but it's about the entire system that we're trying to target so that the entire lifecycle of the product is well thought of.

So, from design to disposal, every single stage is brought into the making process. So, yeah, it's not just one particular thing that you're targeting and I think that's something that makes us stand out. And also, we're trying to make this a lifestyle. In just 18 months since launch, CRCLE has recycled over 400 kilograms of textile waste while contributing to the

generation of 5,800 litres of Aarka, a by-product that supports soil health and agricultural yield for farmers across Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Why did you decide on menswear and not womenswear?

(Laughs) I think that's pretty much how I dress. I think it was just meant to be menswear.

Lastly, as a menswear label emerging from Chennai, how do you define the modern man’s wardrobe today? What are the essentials through your lens?

The modern man's wardrobe is very experimental and I think that's really interesting. They're stepping out to pick what they want to wear, decide what looks good on them. They don't want to shy away from experimenting and I think that's great. A good and interesting tie (is an essential for men's wardrobe) because that's something the brand is into and a cool bag. We see a lot of women carrying bags. Why can't men carry bags?