The shores of Korle Lagoon in Accra, Ghana, are awash with textile waste—second-hand clothing imported from Western countries. Meanwhile, the parent company of a European high street brand reported a net profit of €5.4 billion in 2024, marking a 30 per cent increase. Even a bespoke tailor in Hoi An, Vietnam, amazed me with their ability to craft a perfectly fitted custom suit in just three days. It left me bewildered at how quickly we’ve come to expect our clothes to be made—and how little it matters if they’re not one-of-a-kind. This raises a question: What does such a world mean for crafts that require time, precision, and detail? It may serve the idea of clothing as purely utilitarian, but what about clothing as art? Is there space in our instant-delivery culture for slow fashion with a grand vision? Seven of India’s most prolific designers discuss how their work keeps couture alive, reminding us that, like any other visual art, it cannot be rushed.
MASTERDRAPER
Tarun Tahiliani
Attend a Tarun Tahiliani couture show, and you’ll often hear the same remarks: “I hear he has over 70 looks!” and “TT always delivers.” My first-ever couture show was his The Last Dance of the Courtesan in 2016, and each piece was a tribute to craftsmanship. A decade later, with a design universe that now includes prêt (OTT) and menswear (Tasva), his heart still beats for the drape—his ongoing fascination with perfecting this art form.
“Growing up in the US, I loved Donna Karan—the way she reinterpreted Asian silhouettes in the softest jerseys and wool crepes. Before that, I adored Dior. Galliano was an artist beyond fashion—his work felt like theatre and spoke to me. And I’ve always loved draping.” His design ethos is a balance of the dreamlike and the wearable. “People have to live in my clothes and enjoy them. I’m not designing costumes; I’m dressing people for milestone moments. Their entrance should be as memorable as the event itself.” Tahiliani’s fabrics are inevitably “soft and sensual”—he dreams in them. “I work with embroidery, silks, handlooms—the way they fold is divine. I love playing with exquisite chiffons and muslins.” His inspiration often comes from the organic drape. “I’m returning to the Kumbh Mela to document people and sadhus who drape fabric in their inimitable and unique style.” This will become his research repository for draping. His pichhwai work exemplifies his attention to detail. “It starts with a drawing, then painting, printing, and finally embroidery. Mother-of-pearl is cut for lapels, and other elements come from China.” But that’s the thing about true couture—it doesn’t worry about time. “It’s luxurious, sometimes requiring thousands of hours—but that creates employment and preserves a precious art form.”
IN THE DETAILS
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla
In their 39-year career, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have built a family of artisans who deeply understand their distinctive design language. “Fashion as high art is rare, but some of us approach it as just that,” Khosla says, citing Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, and Oscar de la Renta as designers who transcended clothing and entered the realm of fantasy. AJSK’s work has been displayed in museums and galleries, from NGMA in 1990s Bombay to the V&A in London, featuring their chikankari and the mirror-work ghagra from Devdas (2002)—originally designed for Reema Jain (née Kapoor) and later worn by Madhuri Dixit in the film. For the duo, couture is about creating memories. “Practicality is never a factor,” Jani says. “Whether we used 100 metres of fabric 38 years ago, crushed a garment, or extended choli sleeves into churidar sleeves—big risks make memorable pieces.” A four-decade career brings phases, and right now, they’re in an avant-garde moment—youthful, adventurous, and audacious.“We’re designing for a generation with newfound confidence and pride in their bodies, so they want exquisitely crafted garments in experimental silhouettes.” Yet, their work remains timeless. Their intricate fusion of chikankari, zardozi, and white-on-white embroidery (“Think Dancing Dolls or the Dakar collection,” Jani notes) is iconic. “Our hand embroidery is exquisite. An AJSK piece is forever. It transcends fleeting trends and remains relevant. People still wear our designs from 30 years ago.”
SALT OF THE EARTH
Anita Dongre
Think of Dongre, and the words that come to mind are ‘organic,’ ‘handcrafted,’ and ‘eco-luxe’. In an industry where reinvention seems the only antidote to irrelevance, she has remained steadfast in her mission: To modernise traditional crafts and textiles, creating timeless pieces that transcend trends. “I love working with natural fabrics that are handwoven and handcrafted,” she says. “We incorporate intricate crafts like hand-painted pichhwai, handcrafted gota-patti, and embroidery by the women of SEWA. Each piece takes months to design and create. I want to showcase this incredible craft legacy in modern silhouettes that can be worn for years.” With 30 years in the business, Dongre has witnessed fashion’s transformation in the age of social media.“It’s a double-edged sword,”she admits. “Social media has democratised access for young designers, allowing them to reach the same audience as established brands. But it has also fuelled a prolific ‘copy culture’.” And it has made audiences increasingly restless. “Good things take time. Handcrafted garments require months of labour, but we’re growing impatient as a culture. Couture is about the love and effort behind its creation. As designers, we are artists—the process of creation is the same—finding inspiration, choosing materials, colours, and techniques. The only difference is that our canvas is fabric.”
FUTURE PERFECT
Rahul Mishra
Art has always been a direct influence on Mishra’s work— particularly Impressionism, Naïvism, and Tessellation. Monet’s lightwork, Rousseau’s dreamlike detail, and Escher’s paradoxes feed directly into his imagination. “Acquiring a piece of clothing from the atelier should feel like acquiring a piece of art; that remains our intention each season,”he tells me.“It is equally personal to the buyer. Remember, a consumer invests in couture as they would in a piece of art for their home. Both are cherished for years.” Over nearly a decade of shows across Indian and Parisian runways, the label has become synonymous with hand embroidery, employing a wealth of traditional techniques reimagined for a discerning contemporary wearer. “We’ve become increasingly structural, leading us to unusual materials like metal, which we use as an understructure for our pieces. There is always this hunger to create something completely new and original, to engage more people as we evolve.” The phrase “purposeful design” surfaces often in conversation. “There is growing awareness of environmental changes, and those factors significantly influence the way I draw inspiration now.”The values of “circular design” are inherent to both him and his wife, Divya, he says; every product at the atelier is crafted with consideration for both the environment and the artisans behind its creation.“We want to leave a better world for future generations, and that thought is stronger now than ever.” Being a family man factors into that—gardening with his daughter, stargazing with a new telescope at his hill house. Take Isha Ambani’s River of Life gown at The Met Gala, for instance: a look cultivated, Mishra says, “as a gardener would do to a garden.” Motifs and embroidery swatches from as early as 2013 were reinterpreted and collated to form the gown’s surfaces. “Just as some plants take decades to flower while others bloom in weeks, this look became a culmination of our entire body of work. The life that surrounds me has always been my strongest influence.”
THE SULTANS OF SENSUAL
Shantnu & Nikhil
Couture often oscillates between ethereal, sylph-like embroidery in pastel hues and bold, opulent embellishments in rich textures. Delhi-based designers Shantnu & Nikhil have always enjoyed subverting that expectation.In a fashion landscape where femininity is often front and centre, they bring an edge to Indian couture. “We often work with fabrics with slight stretch, leather, and materials in masculine-inspired colours,” says Nikhil Mehra. Their design language has evolved from a more classic approach to couture into something subtler, “more sensual, while maintaining the classic design philosophy that underpins our work.” Mehra believes most couturiers still approach fashion as an art form, much like imperial designers creating with an “almost regal sensibility.” Think of fashion forefathers like McQueen, Margiela, and Gaultier. But the key is relevance. “I want someone to open their wardrobe years later and find that piece still wearable, still relevant. That comes from unique details and innovative ideas that form the nexus of the design.” He sees this philosophy trickling down into ready-to-wear as well. “With technological advancements and new materials, textures, and fabrics, there are so many fresh avenues for innovation. This allows ready-to-wear fashion to elevate its artistic value.”
THE DELICACY OF BALANCE
Varun Bahl
Bahl is nonchalant yet articulate in his assertion that fashion is art—it simply is, and always has been. “While the commercial aspects of the industry have grown louder, the root—artistry—hasn’t budged,” he says. “It’s about creating pieces that evoke emotions, just as a painting or sculpture might. Some designers remain deeply connected to the artistic aspects of fashion, crafting pieces akin to wearable art, while others prioritise functionality and market trends.”
For Bahl, it is undeniably the former. He primarily works with silks, chiffons, organzas, and velvets, enriched with nuanced hand embroideries, to define his signature brand of delicate opulence. Beauty is important to him, but so are functionality and real resonance. “Whether it’s a statement jacket or a 3D floral embroidery lehenga that took over 4,000 hours of meticulous handwork by a team of incredible Indian karigars, I want to create something that endures—much like a cherished piece of art.” Couture, he states, is “pure alchemy”—the transformation of raw materials into something ethereal, spun into gold by karigars with unparalleled skill. “The process is painstaking, like a symphony where every note, every thread, must be perfect. Creating couture is creating art; it is an intimate, soulful process that captures the essence of both the maker and the wearer. ”His reflections on couture have deepened over the last decade.“It has taught me to slow down and savour the beauty in things that are raw, unfinished, and evolving.”
BEADBYBEAD
Falguni Shane Peacock
Art and commerce do not always have a seamless confluence—a lesson Falguni and Shane Peacock learned the hard way. As household a name as their 21-year-old brand is now, Peacock candidly admits to early failures. One such example was their 2011 label, Wild Child. “It was the country’s first gothic label, and the market just wasn’t ready for it,” she recalls. “That commercial learning was crucial. You need to know if people want what you’re offering. We were too ahead of our time.” Then, there are the works that have been acclaimed as art—like their Fall/Winter 2015 edit, Metamorphosis. The collection, crafted from a rubber-reminiscent fabric developed in-house, received global press coverage and celebrity mileage alike.Yet, stores stocked only a piece or two at most. “They said, ‘I don’t think the customer will wear this fabric’. If only they could have seen the work that went into it.” Design at FSP often involves ground-up invention, from creating custom fabrics to integrating unconventional techniques. “We experiment with textures and develop our own materials.” Their aesthetic is a mix of tulles, silks, and chiffons with loud-and-proud embellishments, sequins, and beading. Peacock outlines the different modes the creative process takes—no two design-verses are alike. Creating a bride’s lehenga will not draw out the same vision as envisioning a contemporary line for the runway. But both are unequivocally art. “The common thread with anything we make is the unabashedness of it. It needs to make a statement.”
This piece originally appeared in the January-February print edition of Harper’s Bazaar India.
Lead Image: Courtesy of the brands
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