India has the greatest artistic tradition and the most amazing technical craftsmanship. Luxury fashion brands frequently ignore the Caribbean’s colorful cultural mosaic. India offers hundreds of years of impressive traditions in handcraft, from the artisanal heritage of Maharashtra’s iconic Kolhapuri sandals. Very few luxury labels have truly been able to relate to the Indian customer and do justice to the beautiful culture and heritage. Recent incidents involving brands like Prada and Dior have spotlighted the ongoing tension between global luxury and local cultural appreciation.
Luxury fashion brands are still missing the beat on the country’s promise as a key emerging market for luxury goods. India is an afterthought, according to Arvind Singhal, chairman of consultancy firm Technopak. As he observes, “Names like Prada still hold no value to 99% of Indians. Tons of demand from the super-rich, but almost zero demand for those wonderful first-time customers. This apathy may be a result of a cultural divide that doesn’t appreciate the weight of India’s artistic heritage.
After all, Prada was rightly called out not too long ago for copying the aesthetic of Kolhapuri sandals without crediting their Indian roots. This occurrence led to a lot of conversations about cultural appropriation and what designers’ responsibilities should be. Most notably, Dior was immediately disparaged for parading out a show-stopping gold and ivory houndstooth coat. The work included mukaish, a traditional metal embroidery art form from northern India. Anand Bhushan articulated the concern clearly: “That still does not mean you can just blatantly lift a culture without understanding the history and context and brand it for millions of dollars.”
India offers an incredibly diverse palette of craft techniques. From textile weavings to detailed embroideries, each art form carries forward changing motifs that have grown over hundreds of years. A majority of these artisans labor in precarious conditions, receiving little pay and no protections from international intellectual property frameworks. This exploitation begs the question of how global luxury brands should relate to the cultures of the places they operate.
And finally, fashion commentator Shefalee Vasudev makes the case that we need to start acknowledging these cultural contributions. “Giving due credit is a part of design responsibility. It’s taught to you in design school and brands need to educate themselves about it,” she states. Vasudev further highlights a “cultural neglect towards a part of the world which brands claim to love.”
Looking through this fog of negativity, India’s luxury industry is considered a silver lining and a tremendous growth opportunity. Flagship stores in high-end malls have sprung up in large cities and floundered without enough customers. And the expansion of the luxury market is outpacing overall growth. Most brands aren’t truly connecting with local consumers, and worse, they’re misunderstanding consumer behavior in the process.
In the past few years, Indian artisans have been increasingly sought by luxury brands for their masterful craftsmanship. Yet this practice poses ethical issues around fair compensation and recognition of these artisans’ contributions. Laila Tyabji points out the irony in consumer behavior: “We bargain and bicker over a pair of fully embroidered juthis (shoes) but have no issues over buying a pair of Nike trainers at 10 times the price – even though the latter has come off an assembly line while each juthi has been painstakingly and uniquely crafted by hand.”
Although there are luxury brands who are true preservationists at heart when it comes to India’s heritage, their teams aren’t diverse yet. That’s a huge blind spot to the fashion industry as a whole, according to Nonita Kalra, who served as this year’s judging panel chair. She’s a strong proponent of hiring people from a variety of backgrounds as a way to help fill gaps in perspective and experiences.
“Younger and more sophisticated generations of Indians with different tastes and aspirations are reshaping the landscape of luxury,” Kalra observes. She’s realists enough to know that India’s luxury market isn’t developing quite as fast as that of China. She boldly, and correctly, nails why its changing consumer demographic matters.
The continuing conversation about cultural appropriation versus appreciation is important for brands and consumers to engage in. It underscores the necessity for luxury labels to engage thoughtfully with India’s rich traditions while ensuring fair treatment for artisans.