An ivory sherwani and a sharply tailored suit may answer different dress codes, but in Mohtaram’s Aath Pehar, they belong to the same wardrobe. Presented at LAAM Fashion Week, the collection considered formal menswear through a range of silhouettes and decorative treatments, moving from ceremonial attire to contemporary evening dressing.

Ivory and peach sherwanis established a lighter register, while warm browns and jewel-toned brocades introduced greater depth and visual intensity. The contrast was as much about surface as colour. Richly embroidered jackets brought ornament into focus, their intricate detailing offering a different kind of presence from the clean construction of the tailored suits.

Particularly interesting was the collection’s refusal to confine formal dressing to one aesthetic. Traditional sherwanis retained their ceremonial character, while the suits introduced a more streamlined proposition. Embroidered jackets occupied the space between, allowing decorative craftsmanship to sit comfortably within a contemporary wardrobe.

Rather than treating heritage garments and modern tailoring as competing approaches, Mohtaram presented them as distinct but compatible expressions of occasionwear. The differences in colour, texture and construction gave each its own character without fragmenting the collection.

In Aath Pehar, the question was not which form of formalwear should prevail, but how much room a man’s wardrobe could make for both.