Indian luxury has hit a watershed moment. A new generation of designers are changing the way Indian textiles, crafts and techniques are perceived. These visionaries who’ve showcased craft-led, India-proud designs at global platforms like London and New York fashion weeks have distilled the essence of heritage crafts and savoir-faire into creations which speak a global language while keeping their core Indianness intact.
Homegrown brands like Kanika Goyal Label (showcasing at New York Fashion Week), Péro by Aneeth Arora (retailing across 50 stores in about 26 countries) and Dhruv Kapoor (who made his womenswear debut at Milan Fashion Week) are taking their new version of Indian fashion to the world. With relentless innovations and experimentation, this new cohort is expanding the definition of India Modern way beyond surface ornamentation into the realms of boundary-pushing silhouettes rooted in Indianness.
Indian Essentialism
Dhruv Kapoor’s Spring/Summer 2026 show in Milan, titled Foundations & Futures, brought foundational pieces from Indian dressing – underwear, vests, petticoats – into the open, infusing them with new strength and intention. Indian archetypes like the kurta and bandhgala were stretched, expanded, and re-coded for the present, turning cultural memory into contemporary architecture. Planetary hues drawn from Vedic systems guided the palette, acting as energies rather than just colours. These pieces functioned as structures, not surfaces — portable monuments of identity, intimacy, and defiance. The modest grew monumental, and the gendered became fluid.
Photograph: Dhruv Kapoor SS26
For Kapoor, India Modern is no longer a surface-level aesthetic built on embroidery, motifs, or nostalgia. “It is an internal architecture — a way of thinking, shaping, and constructing garments that carry Indian logic within global forms. India has always designed intuitively for movement, climate, rhythm, and ritual, and when I speak of India Modern, I always refer to these invisible codes becoming the blueprint for silhouettes that feel global in their appeal yet unmistakably Indian in soul. It is the drape as algorithm, the kurta as the rule of proportion, the lehenga as volume study, the bandhgala as engineering, the drawstring as democratic sizing, the textile as memory — all translated into contemporary shapes that sit comfortably anywhere in the world,” he says.
Textile Magic
This new India is not about decoration but construction, not about motifs but methods, not about homage but evolution. It is the act of taking centuries of Indian intelligence around comfort, durability, modularity, and emotional meaning, and reinterpreting them into silhouettes that resonate with a global audience.
Photograph: Péro
From day one, the much-loved textile and craft-led design house, Péro by Aneeth Arora, has been weaving magic by engaging with craftspeople from various parts of India, gradually transforming the way we view Indian handlooms and crafts. However, the beginning of this alliance with craft clusters wasn’t easy.
Arora observes that at one point we looked to the West, whether it was importing fabrics or deriving inspiration, but now the tables have turned. It’s not just about embroideries but the versatility of different textiles that we find in different parts of India. Global brands like Dior look at India for its incredible savoir-faire. “The world is shrinking, everyone is well connected, and the customer is very aware of what they’re getting and where it’s coming from. Even though we don’t do runway shows globally, for 16 years we’ve been showing our collections to buyers at tradeshows in Paris, London and New York. That’s 32 seasons of consistent effort to put India on the global map,” Arora says.
A Brand New Signature
Kanika Goyal’s neo-luxury brand KGL (Kanika Goyal Label) has been showing at New York Fashion Week since February 2022. Last season marked the brand’s debut at London Fashion Week. KGL’s signature revolves around pop art, deconstructed silhouettes, handmade embellishments, playful tailoring and narratives underpinned by human psychology. Uplifting Indian craft has been central to the brand’s design philosophy in addition to upcycling discarded fabrics and surplus stock from Indian mills.
Photograph: Kanika Goyal
Goyal, who recently collaborated with Disney, notes that our definition of India Modern was more restricted before. “Now, with time, it has broadened. You will see new designers coming up and expanding it. Everyone today is either well-travelled or has studied abroad. Also, social media platforms like Instagram have enabled everything to come close. India always had it, given all its resources. However, it’s just coming to the forefront now. Designers from our own country are taking that initiative to showcase ourselves, to really put that voice out, and it should be noticed more. There’s a lot of traditional heritage and skill sets, but there is this new influx of knowledge, so we’re still evolving. Indian wear is our core at the end of the day, so that’s always going to be there. But I think it’s evolving and everybody has become more individualistic for sure,” she says.
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