Dhruv Kapoor’s moment of ‘Presence’ straight from Milan Fashion Week

“Clothes will always be important, but for me, the feeling is the answer.”

Dhruv Kapoor has always operated in a universe of opposites. Masculine meets feminine, Indian maximalism brushes against the minimalism he absorbed in Milan, and oversized proportions coexist beautifully with precise tailoring. It is this constant push and pull between genders, cultures and visual codes that has made Kapoor’s world so distinctly his own.

Milan has been an important part of that story. Kapoor studied at Istituto Marangoni and worked with Etro before returning to India and launching his label in 2013. Years later, the relationship came full circle when he became the first Indian designer to stage a menswear runway show at Milan Fashion Week in 2022.

And if last season was about being in-between, this one is about simply being. Fall/Winter 2026–27’s Process & Observations found inspiration in spaces of transit – airports, hotel lobbies, corridors and elevators, and those peculiar stretches of time spent neither here nor there. For Spring/Summer ’27, Kapoor turns his attention inward with Presence, a collection rooted in awareness, transformation and the quiet evidence of time on the body, cloth, colour and memory.

“We live at a pace that is constantly pushing us towards the next project, the next goal, the next deadline,” Kapoor says. “At that speed, I think we sometimes start feeding our minds with the desires of the system before really understanding what we desire ourselves.”

On the runway, that thought takes shape through layering, shifting proportions and movement, with sun-faded colours interrupted by saturated tones – as though different stages of ageing and growth have found their way into the same wardrobe.

As ‘Presence’ makes its Milan debut, Kapoor gets candid with LuxeBook about learning to stay in the moment, the ideas shaping his latest collection, his enduring relationship with Milan and what he finds most exciting about menswear right now.

LuxeBook: Last season, you explored the idea of transit, while Presence turns inward towards the awareness of the moment itself. What were you personally thinking about when the collection began taking shape? Could you take us through the process?

Dhruv Kapoor: We live at a pace that is constantly pushing us towards the next project, the next goal, the next deadline. At that speed, I think we sometimes start feeding our minds with the desires of the system before really understanding what we desire ourselves.

When you slow down, you notice more. You see how things change, how they grow and decay, how colour fades, and how time leaves a mark on everything around us. Those observations became the starting point for the season. Awareness, transformation and continuity became the three pillars of Presence.

LuxeBook: Was there a particular silhouette, fabric or technique that unlocked the collection for you? And did the final collection look anything like what you initially imagined?

Dhruv Kapoor: Each season evolves from the one before it. We never work with the idea of discarding what came earlier- we build on it and allow it to transform.

For SS27, I didn’t want to box the body into one specific silhouette. In nature, something can be decaying while something else is emerging at exactly the same time. I wanted that same coexistence within the clothes. So the collection moves between soft and structured, utility and ornament, oversized and precise, long and cropped.

I started sketching the season in late June and the core idea remained the same. Certain surfaces and materials changed as the collection developed, but the original feeling stayed intact.

LuxeBook: What is one thing you hope someone notices about Presence only after looking at it for a second or third time?

Dhruv Kapoor: The feeling of ease and an immense sense of calm. Clothes will always be important, but for me- the feeling is the answer.

LuxeBook: From your debut several seasons ago to Presence, what has changed most for you as a designer presenting in Milan?

Dhruv Kapoor: Both me and the brand have matured from when we first started out. There is a much clearer point of view today- balancing expression with commerciality translating craft into wearable formats and understanding what truly belongs to our language.

LuxeBook: What does your ideal few hours in Milan look like once the show is finally over?

Dhruv Kapoor: Normally I would take a flight back the next day and start working on the next season while the current collection moves on to the other departments.

But before that, it is important for my team and me to sit together and rewatch the show. We look at everything, make notes and discuss what worked and what we can improve. That learning is crucial, and I think it is important that we do it together as a team.

LuxeBook: What’s one piece of clothing you own that has acquired meaning because of where you bought it, who gave it to you or the memories attached to it?

Dhruv Kapoor: There isn’t one yet. I repeat my clothes a lot, so most of them naturally become layered with different memories rather than belonging to one specific moment.

Dhruv Kapoor: I do have a favourite though- our half-sleeve padded-shoulder bomber. It has nothing to do with nostalgia- it simply works every single time. At any given point, I probably have at least three variations of it in my suitcase.

LuxeBook: What do you think is the most interesting thing happening in menswear right now that isn’t getting enough attention?

Dhruv Kapoor: For me, it is the increasingly blurred line between menswear and womenswear. As a brand, we have never started by designing for a specific gender. We are more interested in expressing an emotion or a mood through a piece. 

That makes menswear especially exciting for me because its vocabulary is becoming much broader. There is more freedom to experiment with proportion, softness, ornament and codes that were traditionally associated with womenswear- without needing to define them as masculine or feminine.

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