Through popular beliefs and observation, we come to see that the world of womenswear and menswear are entities poles apart, but now emerging to be unified as one genre with the introduction of prints — an emerging trend in the world of men’s fashion and apparel.
In a world where gender norms still exist in fashion, menswear and womenswear have always played their roles as complimenting parties to one another rather than playing in the same field. There has always been an opposition and resistance if one might say.
Where womenswear is adorned with embellishments, innovative silhouettes and printed textiles; menswear is always favoured towards weaves and twills, more so the fabric quality.
With the start of this year, menswear fashion has gradually come out of its shell of thick woven fabrics and resorted to a fresher take this season. Prints, a much loved fabrication technique and an art form in its own right, has vividly infused into the greys, blacks and static blues of hounds tooth and hearing bones to create something extraordinary.
Defying the fixated color palettes is a new era of vivacious and radiant colors overlapped and under laid one another in a symphony of patterns and prints. Through screen and digital printing, new fabrications have been introduced while satins, silks and linens that were once deemed too casual and feminine for men may just be the new definition of masculinity when encrypted with stripes and checks, formalised for every occasion and perfect for a trendy summer.
In Pakistan, sherwani & Nehru Jackets have gained more popularity than ever with their playful mix of subtle colors and Mughal-era inspired prints. Brands specialising in Shalwar Kameez, have also infused prints with their signature cotton and linen textiles to reinvent the traditional menswear of Pakistan for today’s modern man.
Collections by AlKaram, Umer and Imrana, Jazib Qamar
Moreover, taking an international approach to trends and fashion as a whole, a few local brands have also introduced prints in menswear as a high street fashion statement.
Dolce & Gabbana in its latest Spring Summer collection played with a variety of prints inspired by the Italian ceramics and architecture. Similarly, other brands like Versace, Dior, Jacquemus and Moschino have also been seen playing with energetic prints in their collections.
All in all, we stand in the midst of a revolution; where print prevails regardless of gender or creed and fashion once again unifies us into a singularity and equilibrium.
