No half measures

and pinks they came. And it wasn8217;t too long before the wave hit Indian shores.

In Bollywood 8212; the common man8217;s guide to new advances on the runway8212;the trend reflects in Tarun Mansukhani8217;s Dostana. Designer Aki Narula dressed up a beefy John Abraham in shorts and T-shirts, giving him the casual look that his shutter-bug role demanded.

The trend also reflects a change in perception about the male body. Raghuvendra Rathore, whose latest line at the Lakme Fashion Week this October was a subdued, uber-masculine range of outdoorsy clothes, inspired by the 8216;photographer8217;s jacket8217;, claims the days of the metro-sexual male are over. He prefers to show the macho male, who too is comfortable with his body and not afraid of flaunting it. Rathore even used men8217;s shorts before, teaming them with bandhgalas. 8220;They8217;re certainly an integral part of menswear but continued use on the runway would just be an over-kill. The comment only lasts as long as the season,8221; he says.

Fellow designer Digvijay Singh echoes Rathore8217;s sentiments. 8220;Men are starting to become more conscious about the way they look and people in general are spending more time on their looks. Men are getting out of their shy syndrome. They are more willing than before to expose their legs,8221; says Singh, who prefers to keep his colours and patterns subdued and pay more attention to detailing in this season8217;s unisex collection.

But the real test in sartorial conservatism is when it comes to corporate couture. The first signs of change came when men were spotted in loafers and moccasins in office without socks. Then came the swap of Friday power-dressing for chinos and open collar shirts. Indian boardrooms might have taken well to trends of New York and Paris so far, but shorts-suits might be a tad over the top, even for designers to accept. Narendra Kumar Ahmed who has adapted the trend to fit into his collection for a while now does not prescribe bare calves for the corporate honchos. 8220;Frankly, I think men walking into office in shorts, jacket and tie would look quiet stupid. Shorts in my collection are meant for more relaxed, outdoor wear.8221; While he perceives borrowing inspiration from the west a healthy thing, this is one trend he wouldn8217;t care to borrow. In fact, he claims the boardroom blooper comes from being beaten by the heat of the financial crisis rather than as a way to beat the heat of summer. He wryly remarks: 8220;Given the situation that they find themselves in, they8217;re lucky they have shorts. Pretty soon, those will shrink too.8221;