FOUNDRY by Countrymade: How memory, metal and Indian craft forge a new language of menswear workwear
What happens when memory meets metal, and workwear gets put through the furnace? For Countrymade founder Sushant Abrol, the answer is FOUNDRY, an Autumn/Winter 2026 collection that turns heat, pressure, erosion and fusion into a new language for menswear. Built around the idea of nostalgic utility, the collection takes familiar chore jackets, bombers, truckers and work shirts and gives them a harder, more tactile edge through boiled wool, eroded denim, fused textiles and handworked surfaces. Barmer appliqué, ikat and kantha add an unmistakably Indian layer, while every scar, stitch and imperfection becomes part of the story. This is workwear with memory.
From Memory to Metal: The Making of FOUNDRY
Sushant Abrol gives us a closer look at the ideas and craftsmanship that shape FOUNDRY.
What inspired the idea behind this collection?
FOUNDRY really began where our previous collection, Cenotaph, ended. Cenotaph was about burying memory and building a memorial around it. With FOUNDRY, I wanted to change the form of that memory, to break it down and reshape it into something new. A foundry became an interesting metaphor for that. But rather than focusing on the finished object that comes out of a foundry, the collection looks at the process of transformation itself, the heat, pressure, erosion and everything a material goes through before it takes another form.
How did these industrial ideas influence the fabrics and textures?
A lot of research and development went into trying to make the fabrics actually feel transformed rather than simply look distressed. Denim is patched, layered, coated and eroded, wools are boiled and treated, and colours shift and transfer almost like heat moving through a surface. We wanted each fabric to carry some evidence of the process it had been through.
What does the term ‘textile alloys’ mean in the context of this collection?
It came from the idea of an alloy, where different materials come together and create something with a new identity. We approached textiles similarly. We fused knits with denim, layered and sprayed metal oxides onto surfaces, and developed breathable leather coatings over denim. In some pieces, the resulting material neither looks completely like denim nor leather anymore. That experimentation became our idea of a textile alloy.
Why was it important to leave the marks of treatment and transformation visible rather than hiding them?
Because those marks are the story. I have always been more interested in evidence of making than absolute perfection. A scar, repair, faded surface, exposed stitch or residue tells you that something has happened to the garment. In FOUNDRY especially, hiding those marks would almost mean hiding the process that created it.
Workwear is a strong theme. What interests you about workwear today?
There is an honesty to workwear that I keep coming back to. These garments were designed around purpose, movement and durability rather than trends. But what I find even more interesting is what happens to them over time. They get worn, repaired, patched and personalised by the person using them. Eventually, they become records of labour and life, which connects very naturally with how we think about memory at Countrymade.
What role do Indian craft techniques play in the collection?
We have never approached Indian craft as something that needs to be preserved exactly as it was. For us, the more interesting question is what else it can become. In FOUNDRY, we found strong parallels between craft and industrial processes. The shifting edges of ikat can feel like heat moving through a surface, while Barmer appliqué and kantha naturally speak about layering, joining, repair and rebuilding. We take these existing languages, experiment with them, and place them in a new context within contemporary menswear. It is about using what we have inherited to build something for the future.
Do you see modern menswear moving towards a more craft driven approach?
Yes, but I think craft becomes meaningful only when there is a strong idea behind it. Menswear does not necessarily need more embellishment. It needs more character, experimentation and human intervention. For us, research and craft are closely connected. We spend a lot of time developing processes, testing surfaces and reworking familiar techniques until they begin to say something new.
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—manuvipin@newindianexpress.com
@ManuVipin