Tanestrran Chandran

It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t brag—and neither does Chandran, even though his instinctive understanding of style and his extensive, even esoteric references would justify it. He could be dandying it up in a three-piece suit and top hat, or playing pirates with a headscarf and billowing sleeves. Either way, the result is inimitably, unmistakably Tanestrran. It’s the quiet confidence that does it—that, and the great array of headwear.

“I can't really put a specific label on my style,” Chandran says. “I'm not trying to follow a specific kind of look. There’s definitely a lot of Western inspiration. I like to play a lot with colours and loud patterns. But I also love muted, classic menswear. It’s just about how to navigate these two ends of the spectrum in a fluid manner.”

Who else do you know that carries a cane, unironically, and is able to make it look cool, not contrived? It seems inevitable that Chandran would grow up stylish, coming from the fashion lineage he does. But his style is all his own. “There was a time when I was wearing clothes just to hide myself,” he says. “But over the years, I’ve evolved. It takes time for you to start to learn the rules and the do’s and don’ts—and once you do, then you know how to break them effectively.

“It's really about understanding who you are, asking: ‘Does this speak something about me?’ Because in the end, style is just a silent way of communicating who you are to people.”