Fashion in India

India is a country with an ancient clothing design tradition, yet an emerging fashion industry. Though a handful of designers existed prior to the 1980s, the late 80s and the 90s saw a spurt of growth. This was the result of increasing exposure to global fashion and the economic boom after the economic liberalisation of the Indian economy in 1990. The following decades firmly established fashion as an industry across India.

The history of clothing in India dates back to ancient times, yet fashion is a new industry, as it was the traditional Indian clothing with regional variations, be it the sari, ghagra choli or dhoti, that remained popular until the early decades of post-independence India. A common form of Indian fashion originates from Western culture. Fashion includes a series of sequins and gold thread to attract customers and apply a statement to the Indian fashion community. A famous Indian fashion trademark is embroidery, an art of sewing distinct thread patterns. A way to include the traditional look and create a new fashion statement includes embroidery applied to different dresses, skirts, shirts, and pants to reflect the western culture influence as well as include the Indian tradition.

As part of larger revival movement in the Indian textile industry, Ritu Kumar, a Kolkata-based designer and textile print-expert started working on reviving the traditional hand block printing techniques of Bengal, and making it a part of the fashion industry, established "ethnic chic". She opened her first boutique in Delhi in 1966. In 1973, she first showcased the Zardozi embroidery in her garments, which had its origins in the royal costumes dating back to the Mughal era. This led to the revival of this lost art. In time embroidery became a prominent feature of Indian wedding attire, and also one of the country's biggest fashion exports. This was a period of revival, where various organisations, NGOs and indicuals were involved in reviving traditional Indian techniques, in weaving, printing, dyeing or embroidery, including ikat, patola (double-ikat), bandhani (tie-dye) and shisha (mirror embroidery).

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