BRILLIANT BREAKTHROUGHS

Meet the artists and agitators pushing the agenda for forward-thinking fashion

- NIDA NAEEM

The country is brimming with fresh perspectives in a post-pandemic reality, and the upsurge we’ve witnessed in the homegrown fashion scene is not slowing down anytime soon. But it’s not easy to tune out the noise.

We sought out the most exciting and thought provoking young labels for the 12th edition of the Grazia Young Fashion Awards. This next generation of risk-takers is dissolving the boundaries between disciplines, probing the construction of garments, and harnessing new-age tech for circular design solutions. Here’s to the next big things in fashion.

CATEGORY MENSWEAR

AND THE WINNER IS: SUSHANT ABROL LABEL: COUNTRYMADE FYI: Working across various spheres of fashion, from being a part of a production facility for international brands to working with retailers exploring the luxury side of the business, helped Sushant Abrol identify the scope to lend a new voice to the menswear scene in India. Military attire always appealed to him, and Countrymade’s first runway collection was an interpretation of a poem Abrol wrote for his late brother, who served in the armed forces.

The label tailors vintage military silhouettes into modern workwear looks, with the camouflage pattern recurring in all collections. Each season, Abrol and his team develop a range of intangible artworks, and translate them onto handspun cotton and silk, heavy linens, cottonsilk blends, and more recently, hemp. Techniques range from derivations of the humble kantha stitch in hand embroidery to hand paints, hand-block, and digital prints.

DESIGN DNA: Sophisticated, classic, conscious.