Something inside this man [in the audience] seems troubled if his manhood was affected by what he saw [on the runway]. How fragile is his masculinity?” This is Rohitash Notani responding to an audience response stating that his collection of ‘menswear with a gender fluid narrative’ was indeed, “Gaywear”.

Notani is founder-creative director of the Rosani label, and he showcased a collection titled Anima & Animus, as part of the INIFD GenNext show at the just-concluded Lakme Fashion Week x Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). The capsule range was remarkably free of the usual gender constraints, eliciting collective desire. One male model wore a Victorian-era feminine crinoline mini petticoat with metal hardware dangling over his trousers, and a couple of boys turned up in textured diaphanous shirts and blouses, with gator socks tucked inside their Mary Janes. He told mid-day, “The idea was to take a garment that traditionally denoted wholesome femininity [crinoline] and contrast it with today’s notion of masculinity, and deliberately blur boundaries between the two.” A liberal use of glass bugles, baguettes and rods on shirts and above-knee shorts accessorised with black nail-paint and chunky jewellery, widened the scope and appeal of men’s clothing. “Indian men have worn embroidered jackets and sherwanis. I wanted to pivot silhouettes and embellishments for the modern man who wants something a little more dashing than what he would find in the market.”