Backstage at Dhruv Kapoor’s spring show, five crisp, all-white cotton samples hung neatly on a rack beside the designer’s mood board. Archetypal Indian wardrobe pieces, as the designer explained, they ruled his creative process, serving as the foundation for the 40 looks paraded down the sand-covered runway. It also suggested that Kapoor is refreshingly embracing a more refined and elevated take on cool, youthful dressing. These pieces remain Kapoor’s bread-and-butter, sales-wise, but he’s determined not to let them stifle his creative evolution. “We started a new vertical, which is Kapoor 2.0 — for all the younger, hyped elements that we still have,” he explained.