Dhruv Kapoor Spring/Summer 2027

Dhruv Kapoor’s Spring/Summer 2027 collection begins with an idea that feels increasingly relevant to fashion: what happens when we stop trying to make everything new? Against a culture obsessed with speed, technology and constant reinvention, Kapoor looked instead to ageing, weathering and the marks left by time. Construction sites, moss-covered rocks, cable infrastructures and sun-faded shells became references for a collection interested in transformation without erasure. The concept gives the clothes a thoughtful tension - modern shapes carrying evidence of something older, softer and more organic.

That tension is most effective in Kapoor’s treatment of familiar tailoring. Broad-shouldered blazers, crisp culottes, boxy tops and pencil skirts provide a relatively severe framework for his more decorative instincts, with chandelier-like beadwork, organic wood-grain prints and heavily textured leather disrupting their clean geometry. His reworking of the sari and lungi is more interesting still. Rather than treating these garments as heritage references, Kapoor turns their wrapping and layering techniques into new silhouettes for both men and women, using crystals, beads and patchwork florals to make traditional forms feel part of a contemporary wardrobe.

The collection’s strongest quality is its material experimentation. Faded denim, wrinkled leather, softened poplin, mixed lace and bonded tailoring all suggest garments that have already lived a life, while embroidery creeps across seams like vegetation. Silk bonded with jersey, crumpled checks and leather manipulated to resemble aged skin reinforce the idea that nothing here should feel entirely fixed or pristine. At times, however, the amount of surface treatment risks competing with the underlying silhouettes; Kapoor is at his best when the signs of decay feel integrated into the construction rather than simply applied as decoration.

The accompanying PUMA x RCB collaboration provides a useful full stop to the collection’s argument. Old-school track jackets made from deadstock return to the streetwear language of Kapoor’s earlier work, but are reframed through the same ideas of reuse and renewal. It makes the collection feel less like a meditation on nostalgia than an argument for looking differently at what already exists. SS27 suggests that progress does not necessarily require abandoning the past - sometimes the more interesting design begins with giving something worn another life.