Everyone is building Athleisure. Who is building the perfect workwear brand for Indian women?

I don't particularly believe in separating everything into male founders and female founders.

A founder is a founder.

I've always been more interested in equality than performative “women empowerment” marketing. I don't need every brand to turn pink on Women's Day to convince me it understands women.

But there is one place where I genuinely keep noticing a gap.

Getting dressed for work.

Who owns modern women's workwear in India?

For men, there are brands that have built enormous recall around something as specific as the shirt.

But when a woman thinks:

I need five genuinely great outfits for work.

What's the first Indian brand that automatically comes to mind?

That's where it gets interesting.

India's women's workwear market was estimated at about $1.77 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach roughly $3.10 billion by 2034. Formal shirts represented the largest product segment in that estimate, while blazers are expected to be among the faster-growing categories.

So women haven't stopped wanting formalwear.

Maybe they just want better formalwear.

Because the working woman has changed.

Her wardrobe should have too.

Athleisure is booming. And I understand why.

We want clothes we can sit in all day, travel in, move in, go for coffee in and increasingly even wear to work. Brands have understood that shift, and everyone seems to be chasing the perfect athleisure brand.

But not everyone wants to wear athleisure to work.

There are still women who want a great shirt. A really well-fitted trouser. A blazer that doesn't feel uncomfortable. A complete wardrobe that looks sharp without feeling outdated.

And finding that consistently is surprisingly difficult.

The products exist. The position doesn't.

There are hundreds of brands selling women's shirts, trousers and blazers.

But ask yourself:

Which Indian brand immediately comes to mind when you think of modern women's workwear?

That's where I see the opportunity.

Look at what Bombay Shirt Company did with something as ordinary as a shirt. It built a clear proposition around shirts, fabrics, fits and customisation instead of trying to become everything for everyone. Today its offering spans formal, business and casual shirting, among other categories.

For women's workwear, I don't think we've seen one Indian brand own that association at the same level yet.

And this isn't a tiny category.

One market estimate valued India's women's workwear market at around $1.77 billion in 2025, projecting it to reach approximately $3.10 billion by 2034.

Maybe formalwear needs the upgrade athleisure already got.

Athleisure didn't win simply because people suddenly wanted leggings.

It understood comfort, movement and modern lifestyles.

Workwear needs the same rethink.

Indian weather. Different body types. Long office hours. Commutes. Travel. Sitting for hours. Moving throughout the day.

Why can't a formal trouser solve for those things?

Why can't a shirt look structured without feeling stiff?

Why can't workwear be something you genuinely want to wear for ten hours?

The opportunity isn't necessarily to invent another fashion category.

It's to modernise one that millions of women already need.

And from a branding perspective, that's what interests me most.

You don't necessarily have to follow the category everybody is running towards.

Sometimes the stronger opportunity is sitting in a familiar category that nobody has clearly claimed.

Athleisure is booming.

Women's workwear already exists.

But the brand that becomes synonymous with modern workwear for Indian women?

I still think there's room for someone to own that.