India’s textiles, the sari, khadi and the modern Indian designers, and how Indian craft has shaped fashion worldwide.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 2 November 2026
Why are Indian textiles so important in fashion history?
India was spinning and weaving cotton thousands of years ago and for centuries was the world’s greatest textile producer. Bengal’s fine muslin, printed chintz and calico (named after Calicut) were traded across the world, and Kashmir shawls made the paisley motif fashionable in 19th-century Europe.
What is the history of the sari?
The sari, an unstitched length of fabric draped around the body, has roots stretching back thousands of years and is worn in dozens of regional drapes. Each region has its own weaving traditions, from Banarasi silk brocades to Kanjeevaram silks and Bengal’s cotton taant.
What is khadi, and why does it matter?
Hand-spun, hand-woven cloth that Mahatma Gandhi made a symbol of India’s independence movement, urging Indians to reject British mill-made cloth and spin their own. It made clothing a political act.
Who built modern Indian fashion?
Ritu Kumar, who revived block printing and traditional crafts from the late 1960s, followed by designers such as Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla, Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi Mukherjee. The Fashion Design Council of India and Lakmé Fashion Week, both launched in the late 1990s, created a modern industry.
Read on Ayerhs: India’s fashion weeks · How Aditi Srivastava Refuses to Reduce Indian Craft to Aesthetics
How has India influenced Western fashion?
Through prints, colour and craft. The hippies of the 1960s adopted Indian kaftans and prints, Karl Lagerfeld’s Chanel paid tribute to India in its Paris-Bombay collection, and Indian embroidery ateliers work for many of Europe’s couture houses.
Read on Ayerhs: The Illusion of India: Chanel Pre-Fall 2012 · Indian embroidery and couture