Journal correspondent, and Master in Fashion Art Direction graduate, Khushi Gajjar looks at the prevalence, misuse and influence of Indian fashion, artisanship, craft, design, music, and architecture in the industry today. She calls for the sector to grow a new conscience when it comes to working and producing cross-culturally.
We’ve witnessed this happen countless times: a large Western fashion label “discovers” something exotic, tones it down, redesigns it, and resells it to the world as the new hot thing. It’s presented as revolutionary or innovative, but to most of us, it’s déjà vu. That so-called new, fresh concept? It often originates from India’s rich, living tradition of craftsmanship and design, yet stripped of its roots and diluted to suit everybody.
Saania Singla, Graduate Show ‘Anthos’ | Undergraduate in Fashion Design 2022. Photo by Lapo Quagli.
Western fashion has a history of borrowing from Indian artisans. From Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2012 fantasy version of colonial India to Prada’s “reinvention” of the humble Kolhapuri slipper, fashion’s biggest houses have dipped into Indian aesthetics like it’s an all-you-can-steal buffet. We’ve seen the so-called “Scandinavian scarves” that look identical to Indian dupattas. And here’s the twist, behind all this cherry-picking are usually white creative directors, often unbothered and unchallenged, who continue to recycle India’s rich vocabulary of clothes without so much as a footnote.
Take it from Shreya Shrivastava, a fashion commentator known as brownfashiongal: “Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2012 is a prime example of creative arrogance.” Karl Lagerfeld’s vision of India was not so much homage as haute hallucination. She continues, “Lagerfeld’s India was a French fantasy wrapped in clichés, beauty covering up a history conveniently forgotten by the West.” It was not just tone-deaf but erasure covered up in sequins.
Sometimes, someone gets it right. Louis Vuitton’s SS26 menswear show, headed by Pharrell Williams, set designed by Mumbai architect Bijoy Jain, and with a Punjabi soundtrack co-produced with A.R. Rahman, came across as deliberate, rather than performative. This is what true appreciation looks like: respect paid where it is due and collaboration that extends further than the moodboard.
Hiral Arora, the founder of chaoswintour, underlines the effect of the lack of support for Indian artisans: “Indian crafts aren’t well protected and there are no punishments for replicating them.” With a global market so thirsty and eager to take advantage of anything “ethnic”, provided it’s renamed to sound more western, the payoff to steal is far greater than the risk.
But the issue isn’t just external. Mehak Jain, an Indian fashion creator, puts it: “Many of us have internalized it, subconsciously measuring success by how close we get to Paris, Milan, or London from India.” This colonial hangover is not only geographical, it’s also psychological. We continue to feel compelled to be noticed by the West in order to be legitimized. Even as our markets bounce back, even as our stars rise, we’re still wondering, “did Vogue notice?”. Pushing back on that, Mehak suggests to “begin by taking pride in our own brands, platforms, and narrative. We must stop waiting for permission and create our own systems of value instead.”
India has been a fashion centre for millennia. Our fabrics, methods, and customs have clothed the planet, frequently without the world ever knowing our names. But now, that silence is beginning to be broken. Today’s Indian designers, artists, and cultural observers are no longer sitting on the sidelines; they’re talking about their work, taking back space, and rewriting the script. Western fashion will always look to India for inspiration, but the era of copying without context or credit, and profiting without partnership is wearing thin. Real appreciation means doing the work: learning, collaborating, paying fairly, and showing up with humility. That’s not asking too much; that’s the bare minimum.
This may make some people uncomfortable, and maybe it should: discomfort is often the first step towards change. For an industry that claims to thrive on innovation, it’s about time fashion grew a conscience to match its creativity.
CREDITS
Written by:
- Khushi Gajjar, Master in Fashion Art Direction graduate
