As the mercury heads north, it’s time to pack your bags and hit the beach. The new age Indian traveller is smart, stylish, well read, widely travelled, and loves to be adventurous. So the suitcases now boast of the latest in swimwear, loungewear and resort wear by leading designers. For you are not ready if you aren’t covered for breakfast, beach and ball.

Resort wear in India is riding a new wave of popularity. Emerging as an essential fragment of clothing and a wardrobe staple, it can be worn throughout the year and not just on holidays. “The potential of this category in our country is huge, and it should be so. India enjoys a tropical climate appropriate for resort wear and a boastful coastline with resort destinations,” says Shivan Bhatia, one half of the designer duo Shivan and Narresh, who started the first core swimwear and resort wear label here. Adds Narresh Kukreja, “The category is a sleeping giant, the new Indian consumer is travelling more than ever and holiday as a lifestyle has started to enjoy a more significant share of our pockets today.”

A growing number of designers are joining the resort wear brandwagon, and dishing out Indian-ised versions of dresses, bikinis, sarongs, gowns, cruise wear and party clothes. The resort wear market has emerged as a strong independent industry with its own annual resort week in Goa testifying its popularity and potency. Bollywood's favourite designer Rocky S, whose latest resort wear line is all about languid silhouettes, sequined glamour, flirtatious tassels and sensuous sheer fabrics, explains, “Resort wear has become one of the biggest selling points for retailers and designers. A garment that was once considered leisure wear has emerged as a fashionable and ready-to-wear market on a big scale. Initially resort wear was marketed as an upscale garment in high-end stores, and collections were affordable only for the affluent classes. Now everybody who loves to travel is spending on resort wear.”
As holidaying is more than just beach bumming, people are buying all sorts of garments for cruise parties, clubbing and casual wear. With destination weddings catching on, more people are buying couture, says designer Anjalee Kapoor, who launched her resort wear line around two years back with her husband and partner Arjun Kapoor. “It turned out to be an instant hit. At our Dubai store, 50 to 60 per cent of business comes from resort wear, that says a lot about resort wear’s popularity,” informs Anjalee.
Pumping up sales is the fact that the light fabrics, flowy structures and soft textures of resort wear make even plus-size women slip into them and turn into beach babes. Also, the concept of vacation is warming up to the Western trend of weekend getaways, thus making travellers adopt a resort-driven lifestyle.
Wendell Rodricks, who could be called the father of resort wear in India, says holiday resort sells throughout the year especially in places like South India where the weather remains almost constant. He adds, “While no one can wear a swimsuit, bikini or Speedo on most beaches in India apart from maybe Goa and a private pool, the best beachwear then is a comfy loose shirt and Bermudas and judging by how people are buying easy linens, cottons and light silks, it is a growing market without seasonal boundaries.”
Since Indian designers are majorly catering to the Middle Eastern and Eastern markets, that has also pressed the commerce button. Designer Pria Kataaria Puri claims that India has become the biggest resort wear buying destination of the world today. She says, “I personally love to wear resort wear both in the day as well as in the evenings, so I understand the design and comfort aspect of it, which helps me create resort wear that sells well in the world markets.”
However, New York-based designer Sushma Patel feels that resort wear in India has a very stereotypical image of being casual, and she wants to change this notion with versatile pieces that blend luxury, couture and casual chic. She says, “Resort wear in India is finally developing as people are now experimenting and making resort wear a part of their style calendar.”