The Indian fashion industry refuses to be boxed up. On one hand there’s our rich textile and artisanal legacy that generational kaarigars continue to take forward, and on the other end there are a crop of younger designers conjuring cutting-edge fabric innovations, Indo-western clothing and dabbling in anything but the archetype. What’s between the two? Everything one can imagine: the $50 billion wedding industry birthing Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra brides by the minute, uber-cool Gen Z influencers making thrifting culture cool again, homegrown marketplaces and non-profit organizations such as Ikkivi, No Border Shop, Nila Jaipur and REHWA Society that are looking beyond Instagram virality to eye fashion through the lens of sustainability and the country’s veteran designers like Vaishali Shadangule and Rahul Mishra taking their noteworthy collections to the international market.
Clearly, there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to making sense of India’s narrative in the broader world of fashion, and Blur the Border’s new series, ‘India On The Map’, is here to do exactly that. We hope to fuel thought-provoking conversations that recognize the growth and future of the country’s designers, artisans and individuals, providing a platform to synthesize it all in bite-sized stories.
In the coming weeks, this editorial outlet will be the point of discussion of many a thing which will share one theme in common across the board – highlighting Indian heritage, contribution, talent and textile resources in the context of global fashion business. We seek to answer the why, what, how and where of the hurricane of influences that have shaped the industry as it exists today – both within and beyond the country’s borders.
Join us as we explore how sustainability has long been an ingrained part of the Indian infrastructure (long before it became a buzzword), meet the embroiderers and craftsmen forming the vital community who keep various art forms alive, and pick the brains of your favourite designers such as Dhruv Kapoor, Bloni’s Akshat Bansal and Kanika Goyal of KGL who are scaling internationally and showcasing at fashion weeks in New York, London, Paris and Milan.
Watch this space!