Men’s Ethnic Wear Gets Its Second Wave

India's men's ethnic wear category is undergoing a structural shift, as D2C brands attempt to expand purchasing occasions beyond the once-a-year festive kurta, per an Inc42 analysis published August 25. Younger consumers are moving toward lighter fabrics, shorter kurtas, kurta-shirts and occasion-specific separates for dinners, college events and casual gatherings — a change brands and investors are actively working to monetize.

The category remains underpenetrated, a point underscored by CRISIL data cited in the Inc42 piece: men's ethnic wear accounts for only around 7% of the overall menswear market, leaving significant room to pull customers away from fragmented local tailors and unorganized retail into branded, organized formats. Yash Sarawagi, cofounder of Kolkata-based D2C brand Kisah, told Inc42 that reels, social creators and marketplace listings are helping customers compare silhouettes, colors and fits "in a category where a kurta was once treated simply as a kurta." Nilesh Chhadva, cofounder of Kora by NM, put it differently: the opportunity is "no longer simply to sell more kurtas during more festivals, but to create new reasons for men to buy Indian wear for dinners, work events, travel, casual gatherings and celebrations."

Operationally, the pivot is demanding. Puneet Mansukhani, global retail head of digital and technology transformation at KPMG in India, told Inc42 that expanding addressable demand requires building new use cases across social gatherings, travel and work — not just stacking marketing campaigns on top of existing festivals. Mani Singhal, managing director and co-lead of the consumer and retail practice at Alvarez & Marsal India, argued brands need shorter merchandise cycles, smaller initial orders and faster replenishment instead of one large seasonal bet, and that inventory allocation must reflect regional variation in festival demand.

Profitability cuts differently across segments. The Inc42 analysis notes that mass and mid-market products offer greater scale and repeat potential, while premium ethnic wear carries higher ticket sizes but steeper markdown risk. Fit complexity adds further cost: structured garments like bandhgalas, sherwanis and fitted kurtas typically require alterations, which pushes brands toward physical retail, dedicated tailors or an additional service layer — expenses that casual and fast-fashion retailers largely avoid. Singhal flagged four warning indicators to watch: falling full-price sell-through, rising inventory days or heavier end-of-season discounting, store additions outpacing like-for-like sales growth, and customer acquisition costs rising faster than gross profit per customer.

The low frequency of repeat purchases is the category's most persistent structural challenge. Unlike D2C categories where acquisition costs are amortized across multiple annual transactions, men's ethnic wear customers may not spend again for every occasion. Shuchi Pandya, consumer investor at Fireside Ventures, told Inc42 that capital is most useful when it addresses genuine gaps — stronger design capabilities, improved supply chains and expanded retail channel presence — rather than simply funding competition for the same urban customer. Sarawagi of Kisah suggested brands measure retention over 12 to 24 months using an occasion-based lens, and track household-level value, since one satisfied customer can influence purchases across an entire family or wedding party.

For smaller brands, the Inc42 report points to marketplaces and quick commerce as a path to scale without heavy physical investment, with multi-brand retail and franchise-operated stores as a lower-capital alternative to exclusive outlets. The broader test, per the analysis, is whether new investment grows the overall market rather than intensifying competition for existing demand — a distinction that will likely determine which of the current wave of D2C entrants builds durable businesses.