The mandarin collar has moved from menswear and military jackets into Western fashion this year. Pakistan took the same trend and gave it a local shape.
Instead of blazers, the collar is showing up on kurtas. A brown kurta making the rounds right now pairs a mandarin collar with jute-cord frog closures instead of buttons, worn over a flared skirt. Co-ord sets are following the same idea, matching mandarin-collar tops with trousers or skirts.
This isn’t a straight copy of the runway version. Designers are fitting the collar into clothes that already work for local taste: modest necklines, relaxed cuts, an eye for texture rather than print.
Now that the trend has landed here, expect to see more mandarin-collar kurtas and co-ords on regular wardrobes, not just runways.
