Every few weeks, a groom settles into the chair across from me, slightly sheepish, and says some version of the same sentence. "Honestly, I just don't want to clash with her." He says it as though his only job on the wedding day is to be tasteful wallpaper. Handsome, sure. But essentially a backdrop for the bride.
I always smile, because I know what comes next. By the end of that first fitting, the same man is standing a little taller, turning slowly in the mirror, quietly surprised by the person looking back at him. That moment is the reason I do this work. The groom was never the background. And in 2026, he certainly is not dressing like one.
At SGK Styles, I have watched the groom's chapter of the wedding story grow up. For years, men were handed a heavily embroidered sherwani, a matching safa, and a polite instruction to stand still. This season tells a different story, and it is a far more interesting one.
The Year of Quiet Luxury
The Aesthetic: if I had to describe 2026 menswear in two words, they would be quiet luxury. The loud sherwani drowning in crystals has stepped back. In its place is something softer and far more confident. Think powder pink, dusty lavender, pistachio, champagne, and soft dove grey. Think texture instead of sparkle: raised threadwork, geometric quilting, tone-on-tone zardozi, and sculpted, structured drapes that catch the light only when the groom moves.
The men I dress this year want richness you have to lean in to notice. A pastel bandhgala in textured silk says more, to the right eyes, than a kilo of sequins ever could.
The Stylist's Touch: before I show a groom a single fabric, I read his Style DNA. Is he understated or expressive? Does he live in tailoring, or in tees and sneakers? A wedding is no time to wear a costume of someone you are not. The goal is always the most elevated version of you, never a borrowed personality.
The Bandhgala Has Its Moment
The Vibe: the breakout hero of 2026 is the bandhgala. It has become the go-to for the groom who wants presence without noise. Clean lines, an impeccable collar, luxe wool blends and matte silks, often in a single tonal palette. It is the menswear equivalent of a perfectly poured single malt. Nothing flashy, everything considered.
A bandhgala lives or dies by its tailoring, which is exactly why I love it. There is nowhere to hide. The shoulder has to sit cleanly, the waist has to be honest, and the collar has to frame the face. Done well, in the lineage of houses like Sabyasachi, it turns an ordinary man into the most composed person in the room.
The Stylist's Touch: I finish a bandhgala with restraint. One brooch, a slim kalgi if the occasion calls for it, and beautifully made mojaris. The drama should come from the cut, not from accessories piled on top of it.
The Sherwani, Reimagined
The Aesthetic: the sherwani has not gone anywhere. It has simply grown sophisticated. The 2026 silhouette is slimmer and cleaner, the embroidery quieter and more architectural. Designers like Amit Aggarwal and Gaurav Gupta have taught a whole generation to think of menswear as sculpture, all structure and intention, while Manish Malhotra continues to make heritage feel cinematic.
Fabric is where the season really speaks. For the grand winter weddings now being planned for November through February, I reach for brocade and raw silk with depth and weight. For warmer, daytime functions, breathable Chanderi keeps a groom looking crisp instead of melting by the second hour.
The Stylist's Touch: I almost always bring the colour down a notch from what a groom first asks for. An ivory or oyster sherwani with tonal work photographs like a dream and lets the bride's colour sing, while still leaving him looking quietly magnificent beside her.
Indo-Western for the Groom Who Breaks the Mould
For the Sangeet, the cocktail, and the reception, this is where I let a groom have fun. The Indo-western story in 2026 is all about movement and contrast: a draped kurta under a sharply structured jacket, a long open achkan over slim, tapered trousers, asymmetric hems, and bandhgala collars reworked in contemporary cuts.
This is the groom who respects tradition but refuses to be boxed in by it. The man who wants to dance at his own Sangeet and actually move while doing it. The trick is to keep one foot in heritage so the look still belongs at an Indian wedding, and never tips into fancy dress.
Dressing Beside Your Bride, Not Behind Her
Here is the truth I tell every couple. You are not meant to match. You are meant to belong in the same photograph. When a bride is in a deep Sabyasachi red heavy with gota patti, the worst thing her groom can do is turn up in the same red, fighting her for the frame. The far more romantic choice is harmony.
So, for the groom wondering how to get this right, here is how I approach it:
Coordinate the palette, do not copy it. If she is in wine, he wears champagne, ivory, or a soft complementary tone that sits beside her rather than competing.
Match the level of formality, not the level of embellishment. Her heavily worked lehenga pairs beautifully with his cleaner, less embellished sherwani.
Agree on your metals. Decide together whether the day belongs to gold or to silver, and let both your jewellery and your embroidery follow that lead.
Plan the full multi-day wardrobe as one story. Your Haldi, Mehendi, Sangeet, and Phere looks should feel like chapters of the same book, for both of you.
Pick one shared detail. A thread of colour from her dupatta echoed in his pocket square or safa quietly tells everyone you are a team.
Get fitted together, at least once. Seeing the two looks side by side is the only honest way to know they sing.
The SGK Philosophy
I believe the groom deserves to feel as transformed as the bride. Not louder than her, and never an afterthought, but fully himself at his most elevated. My job is to be the Creative Director of that vision: to read who you are, and to translate this season's quiet luxury into something that will still feel timeless when you open your wedding album twenty years from now.
If you are a groom, or a bride styling the man beside you, and you are starting to plan for the season ahead, I would love to help you build a wardrobe that feels unmistakably yours. You can reach out through SGK Styles whenever you are ready. There is no rush, only good tailoring, which famously cannot be hurried.
With love and style,
Shreya Gupta Kedia
Founder, SGK Styles
