In an age where the ephemerality of fashion trends is an accepted fact, the ever growing popularity and demand for ethnic wear among all age groups continues to keep the fashion world agog. Many feel that its enduring appeal has much to do with its sheer range and variety in style The only thing that remains constant in the realm of fashion is the change in trends. A new fashion trend has an instant connection with people. In a consumerist society like ours, the growing emphasis on one’s looks and personality is making people spend a bomb on the clothes of their choice in keeping with latest trends. It is assumed that if one is smartly turned out, it makes a huge impression on the other person. Times are changing and so are people’s mindsets. Today people are ready to loosen their purse strings when it comes to clothing and styling. The competition to look better has got more intense as never before.

  If traditional attires or ethnic outfits had not been in vogue for quite a while, it is the ethnic trend that has made a huge comeback visible in the latest styles and trends.

Design by Tasta

Prasanna Padesur, manager at clothing brand Tasta, which is specially known for its ethnic, festive and bridal collection, says, “There has been a sudden upsurge of ethnicity as clients do prefer to go in for designer ethnic attires for every occasion nowadays. Still the clients demand customisation as well; if it’s a Maharashtrian family the choices are different, same with a north Indian family. For festive seasons the clients generally demand ethnic wear, with bright colours and something which is out-of-the-box in terms of design and patterns.

The fabrics or attire for ethnic wear which are more in demand are the Chikankari, V neck kurtas for men; kurtas are always the most preferred mode of dress in men’s clothing. For girls trendy yet western pattern gowns are more in demand, or a quick easily wearable, light weight lehenga choli.

Nowadays people prefer to wear customised patterns and fashion. The nascent trend of whole family opting for similar colour or pattern of clothes on festive occasion is also fast catching up. Hence we get orders for that too. Demand for ethnic wear was earlier limited to wedding occasions mostly but now, for every casual or formal occasion as well, people prefer ethnic wears in designer collections.

Aishwarya Chavan, a fashion designer for Indian traditional ethnic attires at Tasta, sharing her experience of designing ethnic clothes, said, “Definitely, people have become more attracted towards ethnic wear. Right now people are opting for styles which are modern yet classic in ethnic wears. Indo western looks and Jackets for kurtas are very much in demand. Same goes for light pastel colours for attire. In case of jewellry; temple jewellry is much sought after, it looks heavy and at the same time classy as well, plus a lot of Kundan work in jewelries is a desirable attribute.

Right now since most of the people are on social media, their well-turned out pictures resplendent in their ethnic attire do the regular rounds. Everybody wants to look better than the other on social media. Hence any fashion whether ethnic or Indo western shall suit them and make them look their best. That’s the basic need of clients nowadays.

Richa Kelkar, a fashion designer and boutique owner shared her views on ethnic trends. She said, “Ethnic trends are no longer limited to any age group. People even in their sixties are ready to experiment with their looks.

Ethnic wear are very much in demand with a bit of experimented styling as well. Crop tops and long skirts with good flair are the new rage. People nowadays prefer attires they can mix and match and wear differently. They want dresses that can provide them different types of looks with single attire. For example, a simple crop top and long skirt can be made into a lehenga teaming it up with a good dupatta. Later a lehenga can be converted into skirt teaming it up with a good western pattern top. Jackets are very much in fashion. People want to wear jackets of different styles with ethnic as well as western attires giving it a fusion look.

On one hand the youth is ready to experiment with all traditional costumes and on the other hand the middle aged women prefer to strike a combination of saris and other dresses giving it Indo western look.

Long Anarkalis and lehenga skirts without border are more in fashion and demand. Earlier in terms of traditional wear girls preferences were only limited to kurtis and that of women to sarees. Now they wish to experiment as much as they can with ethnic sarees, lehenga, Anarkali, saree gowns or long gowns.

Earlier men were not that adventurous in matters of attires. It was something that was reserved for women only. However, with time the trends of fashion are changing among men also. They wish to experiment with every style and traditional dresses. For ethnic wear different patterns of Kurta like Jacket or kurta, Handwork Kurta, Nehru Coats and other funky styled kurtas are very much in demand among men. Saurabh Prajapat of Pune said, “I belong to Rajasthan where wearing traditional outfits is part of our culture. What I see now is a change in wearing traditional attires. Lots of mix and match is going on in dresses for men. Men do prefer kurtas of different styles and bright colours in different patterns. The earlier hesitation of wearing something ethnic that might not suit them is a thing of the past. I recently had a traditional day in my office. I could see all my male colleagues wearing traditional ethnic attires. I also tried out a totally different south Indian pattern of dressing in Indo western style.”

Men are becoming more dress-conscious as never before. They too want to look good in their social circle as well as on social media. Ethnic wear is not something which has now remained out of reach for the fashionably-inclined.

  People either like to follow the trend or create their own new trends. Every outfit whether Indian or western is inspired by its culture and tradition. In present time we can see a mix of Indian and western with lot of innovation. Nowadays girls don’t limit themselves to wearing traditional Indian outfit only. They have got a lot of options. They can make an outfit look both trendy and stylish with a little bit of tweaking and still look traditional at the same time.

Bhairavi Bhoir, a young model from Mumbai shared her views on fashion going ethnic. She said, “Fashion has to keep pace with the changing times. It keeps on changing, but every time what comes back from past has a lot of new elements attached with it. Going ethnic is new style trending in town these days. The youth loves ethnic wear. Be it saris, heavy jewellery, Oxide Jewelries or ethnic shoes like Mojdi, all are back in fashion.

Youngsters of today do not only have a penchant to look beautiful or handsome, they also wish to stand out from the crowd with their newfangled fashion. A large number of today’s youth follows the styles of their favourite actors and actresses as well. Thus ethnic wear is not only being used for formal or traditional occasion but for casual occasion as well. Girls do prefer to wear long gown kurtis with cotton belt, or skirts with heavy work or mirror work kurtis and Punjabi attires to work and college as well. Anarkalis are also trending with silk fabrics and cotton fusion. The youth is feeling more confident today in ethnic and Indo western trends of clothing. It is not only giving them an opportunity to experiment with their looks but also a new-found confidence to look better.

 Not every fashion trend that makes a comeback manages to sustain itself for a long time. However, the same cannot be said of ethnic wear which has become all the rage among all age groups. The reason can be modification of ethnic wear in a way to not only make it look stylish but make one feel comfortable as well. Amruta Wadekar, a student in Pune, shared her opinion on ethnic wear fashion trends. “Of course going ethnic is the new trend right now. Everyone we see around is going crazy with ethnic fashion and enjoying it a lot. A reason for it can be the huge variety of options available for ethnic wear. Today we find a lot of variety for bottom wears in ethnic trends; there are palazzos, leggings, and juggins, Dhoti Salwar, semi Patialas, Herum and many more. Earlier the bottom wear for ethnic dresses was very much limited to churidars which was not usually very comfortable or salwars that used to give baggy look.”

Today we see a huge variety of kurtis that can look like tunics, gown, long tops and ethnic with gown pattern or frock pattern as well. The designs of skirts, lehengas and gown are there which are more classy and comfortable, in terms of being light weight, good fabric and sober designs.

Embroideries are being reinvented giving attires a very classy look. Saris are getting customised as well the fabrics are available in pattern making saris more comfortable and easy to wear. No wonder the youth of today has taken a shine to ethnic wear. It suits all body shapes; make you look tall, slim and colourful. With this the ethnic fashion is adopting itself with every season as well, which has made customers more satisfied with ethnic attires.

            But sari can never go out of fashion. It might come packaged in new patterns and styles but will always remain as a top priority. A sari can lend a real aesthetic appeal to anyone who is wearing it. With that it also comes with an option of wearing it in several ways and styles making it look more trendy and stylish. Chaitali Chatterjee from Kolkata shared her views on saris in terms of ethnic wear. “Saris are always in fashion, only the style, prints, patterns, designs and fabric keeps changing. Earlier Zari was very much in vogue, and then satin silk and Linen and now cotton mix fabrics in sari are more in demand.

Today sari is not only the dress one wants to buy for general use. People are ready to spend more to add stylish yet classy saris to their wardrobe. Among all age groups the demand for saris is going up steadily. Women are experimenting a lot with blouse patterns as well to give their sari a stylish look. Girls do prefer sari more for traditional occasions. They feel it is reusable, comfortable and classier as compared to other traditional wears.

Priyanka Agarwal, independent fashion designer, shared her views regarding the future of fashion. “Ethnic wears are now the rage. We are now seeing the return of retro fashion which is finding acceptability among people of all age groups. Today there are so many options like legging kurti, skirt kurti, palazzos kurtis, so that one can choose from a range of attire they feel comfortable with.”

Today, people don’t need a designer to suggest them what looks and style go with the wear. People are ready to experiment with their looks according to their fashion sense. Even fashion designers in this age find it difficult to predict or forecast trends.  At best, they can conjure up some design ideas and showcase it for the fashion conscious and discerning customers to accept or reject them. Hence it is hard to predict what new fashion would replace the old one. Having said that, one thing is clear: ethnic fashion trends are here to stay.