Why it belongs in ORBIS
New Delhi label founded in 2013 by Dhruv Kapoor, a NIFT and Istituto Marangoni graduate and Etro alum. First Indian designer to stage a solo menswear show at Milan Fashion Week, reworking kurtas and bandhgalas into techwear-tailored silhouettes.
Dhruv Kapoor founded his eponymous label in New Delhi in 2013, the same year he finished a stint at Etro in Milan under Veronica Etro's womenswear team, following a NIFT New Delhi education and a master's from Istituto Marangoni. His collections rework archetypal Indian wardrobe pieces — the kurta, the bandhgala jacket, petticoats — into techwear-adjacent silhouettes, often exploring gender fluidity in cut and styling. He staged his first Milan Fashion Week presentation in 2024 and returned for a solo menswear show for Spring/Summer 2026, titled 'Foundations & Futures,' making him the first Indian designer to hold a dedicated menswear show on the Milan calendar. His Fall/Winter 2023 collection, 'The Embracer,' used sustainably processed fabric for roughly 40% of its material. Recognition includes the Vogue India Fashion Fund (2015), a place on GQ India's list of 50 most influential young Indians (2017), the GQ India Young Designer Award (2018), and Vogue India's Designer of the Year for womenswear (2019).