Dressing bada saabs since 1976: Designer Kresha Bajaj on learning about menswear from her father

Designer Kresha Bajaj’s mother, Kintu, ran a boutique in Bandra with designer James Ferreira, while her late father, Kishor Bajaj, built a loyal clientele through his bespoke menswear tailoring house, Bada Saab (launched in 1976). PIC/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI

Designer Krésha Bajaj grew up around fabrics, fittings and fashion. Her mother, Kintu Bajaj, ran a boutique in Bandra with designer James Ferreira, while her late father, Kishor Bajaj, built a loyal clientele through his bespoke menswear tailoring house, Bada Saab (launched in 1976). For Bajaj, launching a womenswear label felt almost instinctive. Now, over a decade later, she has come full circle with the launch of Krésha Bajaj Homme, a ready-to-wear menswear label inspired by old-world tailoring houses, with the first collection, The Smoking Room. Bajaj reflects on the lessons she inherited from her father, the difference between designing for men and women, and why Indian men are dressing better today.

What are some of your earliest memories of menswear and fittings?
Honestly, my earliest memories are not glamorous at all. They're very sensory - rolls of fabric everywhere, fittings running late into the evening, masters marking chalk lines onto jackets, conversations around shoulders and proportions and hems. I grew up watching men care deeply about how they looked and how they felt in their clothes. My father always understood that dressing well was not about being flashy, it was about feeling confident, comfortable, and completely yourself.

Kishor Bajaj and actor Sanjay Dutt

What did watching your father work teach you about style and craftsmanship?
He taught me that real craftsmanship is obsessive. It's in the smallest things. He was incredibly focused and unbelievably hardworking. Once he committed to something, there was no distraction. And he always believed that sincerity and hard work eventually speak for themselves. Style-wise, he taught me restraint. He understood that the most elegant things are often the quietest.

Did menswear always feel like something you would eventually explore?
Not consciously. Womenswear became my world very naturally and I loved building that language for myself.
But menswear was always around me in some form. Looking back, I think I absorbed far more than I realised. And when I started working on it again, it felt strangely instinctive, almost familiar in a way I can't fully explain.

How emotional was it for you to launch a menswear line rooted in your father's legacy?
It's definitely emotional, but not in a heavy way. I don't look at it as recreating what he built because that would be impossible. For me, it's more about taking everything I grew up with, the discipline, the tailoring, the understanding of men, and interpreting it through my own lens. There's something special about reconnecting with that world while still making it completely your own.

How is the creative process different for you when curating menswear compared to womenswear?
Menswear is far more restrained, but in a way that I find incredibly exciting. In womenswear, sometimes the emotion can come through dramatic silhouettes or embellishment. In menswear, the emotion lives in precision. A stitch line, a shoulder, the weight of a fabric, the way a trouser falls. The details carry much more responsibility. Designing for men requires a more considered approach rather than a restrained one. Men still want individuality and expression, but they usually respond to it through detail, texture, proportion, and fit rather than obvious statement pieces. The challenge is making something feel special without over-designing it.

Why did you choose old-world tailoring as the starting point for the collection?
Because that world feels very honest to me. I grew up around tailoring houses and fittings and men who took pride in dressing well. There's something beautiful about rituals around clothing, polishing shoes, choosing a watch, wearing a jacket that's been tailored perfectly over years. I wanted to reinterpret that atmosphere in a way
that still felt modern and relevant today.

Are Indian men dressing differently today?
Definitely. Men today are far more aware and experimental, but at the same time they're moving away from dressing just for occasions. They want wardrobes that feel versatile and personal. There's also a much deeper appreciation for quality now, fabrics, fit, tailoring, construction, things people maybe didn't pay attention to earlier.

Any particular piece that felt especially personal to create?
Yes, there was one jacket we became slightly obsessed with. It was inspired by the texture of ostrich skin, but we wanted to recreate that effect without using leather, so we sandwiched pearls between layers of fabric to create those subtle raised textures. I love pieces like that, details you don't fully notice at first glance, but once you do, they make you smile a little. Those quieter discoveries are my favourite part of menswear.

Are more men opting for ready-to-wear today as opposed to tailored clothing?
Yes and no. Men definitely want ease and accessibility today, but I also think there's a growing appreciation for tailoring again. What's changing is that tailoring no longer needs to feel rigid or overly formal. Men want pieces that feel sharp but effortless, things that move between work, travel, evenings, and everyday life naturally.