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Ritu Kumar’s storied legacy is unparalleled. Among the first generation of designers to shape Indian fashion post-independence, Kumar pioneered the industry as we understand it today. And she did so by placing local craft at the heart of it.
What began as a small boutique in Delhi in 1966 has since evolved into a sprawling design house: an expression of Indian textiles for the modern woman across couture, ready-to-wear, diffusion labels, accessories, and homeware, with a retail presence spanning over 100 stores across the country. In doing so, Kumar—who is often called the first lady of Indian fashion—created a blueprint for fashion entrepreneurship in India.
Over time, her unwavering commitment to sustaining India’s craft clusters has earned her a Padma Shri from the Government of India and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier) from the French government.
It was this early decision to “invest in reviving craft ecosystems long before it was commercially understood,” that cemented her reputation as a visionary. “It shaped the foundation of the brand,” she says about building an empire rooted in culture rather than on trends.
True luxury, Kumar believes, will always lie in continuity. “Textiles, embroideries, and techniques that have travelled through generations, yet find relevance in modern wardrobes.” Kumar—along with her son Amrish Kumar, who now helms the company—has done precisely that. Does she have a favourite craft to work with, impossible as it may be to choose favourites? “Currently, I find myself deeply engaged with the nuances of fine hand block printing, particularly the older resist and natural dye processes,” she reveals.
“There is a quiet sophistication in the irregularity, the human touch, and the way colour settles into natural fibres. It represents everything I believe true luxury should hold: time, patience, and cultural memory.”
How does one narrate the rise of Indian luxury without Sabyasachi Mukherjee? From the by-lanes of Kolkata to his early stints in the West, and now an undeniable global presence, his journey is the stuff of legend.
In over 25 years, Mukherjee has moved through many roles. It was his stature as a ‘bride whisperer’ that made him a household name in India, his red lehengas becoming the template for an entire generation of Indian brides (and even spawning a thriving industry of imitations). The frenzy only intensified as he dressed A-list celebrity couples for their weddings, from Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli to Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, building his influence through pop culture.
Today, he is among the most recognisable faces of Indian fashion globally: walking the red carpet at the Met Gala, hosting Anna Wintour at his New York store, and positioning his label alongside European legacy brands at retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Harrods, and Neiman Marcus.
Yet, Mukherjee has little interest in being “the big thing”. “I never allow myself to do that. Every time I realise that I’m reaching a saturation point with a particular segment I pivot, so that I feel like a novice and have to start climbing up again,” he previously told Robb Report India.
Yet, Mukherjee has little interest in being “the big thing”. “I never allow myself to do that. Every time I realise that I’m reaching a saturation point with a particular segment I pivot, so that I feel like a novice and have to start climbing up again,” he previously told Robb Report India.
“I want to create India’s first global luxury brand. And I don’t have too much time, because I’m already 51; I have probably another 20 years to give.” But this vision isn’t rooted in personal glory. “I want to use this brand to tell people that if things are done correctly, you really go a long way, even if it takes longer,” he previously told Robb Report India. “I want people to remember the brand and understand that if I could do it, so could they; to use Sabyasachi as an instrument to show people the importance of both earnestness and integrity.”
For nearly two decades, Raw Mango has been the thinking woman’s armour. At a time when much of Indian fashion was looking outward, the brand’s founder, Sanjay Garg, turned resolutely inward—to the hinterland—shaping a new visual vocabulary through his campaigns, design language, and storytelling. Many have followed since. Most recently, he took that vision to London Fashion Week, placing the sari on the international runway. It stems from the way he views luxury—through the lens of his own lived experiences.
“Luxury lies in the context of my life. It is not about material or value or quality or exclusivity. The product itself is rarely the centre of that luxury, because after five minutes of having a product I want something else,” he says. Instead, Raw Mango is rooted in textile innovation. “We are interested in the future of textiles, experimentation and advancement of design processes, and technologies in the area,” he explains.
But he resists the idea of revival. “It’s more about imagining textile futures. For textile craft to survive, it requires constant design intervention. This begins at the weave, or even the yarn level.”
Garg is equally unfazed by the rise of AI. “I welcome this era. It gives me a boost. The more advanced technology gets, the more the hands become special. It cannot ever compete,” he asserts.
If anything, he is more critical of the evolving luxury consumer in India. “I am impressed by the lack of curiosity. It’s becoming easier to manipulate this segment with just optics because every interaction is surface level. Even with the things that they really care about,” he says. “They are really passionate and emotional about the things they care for, but don’t want to go into the depths of it.”
The Kasliwal family has been crafting fine jewellery for nine generations, and by the time they formally established Gem Palace in 1852, they were already jewellers to Jaipur’s royal family.
More than a century later, the house remains one of the most prominent Indian jewellers globally. Its starstudded patronage reads like a roll-call of A-listers from Jackie Kennedy and Princess Diana to Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow.
“Expansion is seductive, but you lose yourself by opening too many stores or categories,” feels Kasliwal. “Scale without soul dilutes identity. I want to keep our legacy alive by not commercialising it.”
Kasliwal learnt the value of permanence, and of “luxury without losing its refinement”, as he calls it, through his conversations with designer Oscar de la Renta and cultural historian Martand Singh.
“They were both friends of my father [the late Pramod ‘Munnu’ Kasliwal]. I’ve always admired not just their work, but also the consistency of their journeys.”
After all “anyone can create hype,” says Kasliwal, “but very few can create something that carries legacy, skill, and intention.” He views luxury not in numbers, but in emotion, culture, and timing, which is why craftsmanship continues to remain the guiding principle at Gem Palace.
Kasliwal is most drawn to heritage techniques at the risk of disappearing; the kind that can never be replicated by machines. “Like the intricate inlay technique in Indian jewels or pietra dura. And even some incredible work in textiles like double ikat or jamdani.” At the end of the day, he believes that “nothing can replace intuition or lived cultural memory. Craft will always be human first.”
Among Jaipur’s constellation of world-renowned jewellers, Sunita Shekhawat is a name that stands out for taking the centuries-old craft of meenakari and giving it a modern makeover. When Shekhawat started out over three decades ago, her approach felt radical. For starters, she flipped the convention of the colours white, red, and green associated with the craft on its head, experimenting with unconventional colours including turquoise and mint, and introducing reversible and detachable designs at a time when bridal jewellery was defined more by opulence and less by practicality. In the process, she developed a new design language: contemporary, yet rooted in heritage.
“I keep returning to traditional Indian enamelling techniques, especially the subtleties of meenakari. The way colour is layered, fired, and brought to life feels like magic to me. There’s something incredibly grounding about working with a craft that has survived centuries because of human skill and patience,” says Shekhawat who has, over the years, earned the moniker of the ‘modern meenakar’.
Shekhawat’s work has earned her the patronage of Rajasthan’s royalty, with her first store inaugurated by the late Gayatri Devi, the titular maharani of Jaipur.
Today, Shekhawat’s children—Niharika Shekhawat and Digvijay Shekhawat—have entered the family business and are committed to keeping the craft alive not just in their atelier but also in cultural conversations.
In 2019, the brand launched its Museum of Meenakari Heritage (MoMH) in Jaipur to showcase India’s rich history of enamel work in jewellery, co-curated with historian Dr. Usha Balakrishnan. The idea was to encourage deeper discourse around the technique, especially as today’s luxury consumer is curious about craft, sourcing, values, and the artisans who make the jewellery.
“Knowing the hands behind a piece, understanding its journey, and feeling a connection to its purpose will become essential to the new definition of luxury,” says the jeweller. “The new generation doesn’t want to own many things; they want to own things that have a story— that shift is both refreshing and encouraging.”
When Tarang Arora’s father, Rajiv Arora, and uncle Rajesh Ajmera founded Amrapali in 1978, they brought a new lens to Indian fine jewellery and traditional techniques. Today, as the scion of the brand, Arora has helped transform Amrapali into a global luxury name right from his hometown—and international jewellery hub—Jaipur.
“I’m drawn to traditional kundan and jadau techniques, but I explore them in unexpected ways. What excites me is allowing them to evolve through lighter forms, new settings, and contemporary proportions,” says Arora.
It is this approach that has seen Amrapali reach the hallowed halls of global retailers such as Selfridges and Harrods, participate in a showcase at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, forge an eclectic fine jewellery collaboration with designer Masaba Gupta, and win the patronage of icons including Julia Roberts, Halle Berry, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja.
The brand also runs the hugely popular silver jewellery label Tribe Amrapali, helmed by Arora’s wife, Akanksha Arora. Meanwhile, the Amrapali Museum in Jaipur—a one-of-a-kind institution—further advances the conversation around jewellery-making, housing an extraordinary collection of rare antique pieces.
Through the decades, Amrapali has remained committed to slow luxury and Arora has chosen to continue to “invest relentlessly in craft and karigars at a time when speed and scale are becoming industry obsessions.” It is, he believes, what will hold the brand in good stead with the next wave of luxury patrons.
“This generation doesn’t buy into luxury blindly; they choose it consciously. They ask sharper questions about craftsmanship, sustainability, value, and authenticity,” he says. Depth, integrity, and provenance, he believes, will be the torchbearers that carry Amrapali’s legacy forward and are the values the brand has founded itself on.
To simply call Tarun Tahiliani the doyen of Indian couture is insufficient. In over three decades in the business, Tahiliani’s journey has run parallel to the evolution of India’s organised fashion industry. From co-founding the multi-designer boutique Ensemble (now in the able hands of his sister, Tina Tahiliani Parikh) to building a celebrated fashion house rooted in an ‘India Modern’ sensibility, the couturier has played a defining role in reimagining how Indian women across the world dress—whether by taking the weight off cumbersome bridal wear or championing the merits of enduring style over passing fashion.
“I always find logos worn without context curious. True luxury is not about a logo, nor is it about owning something that nobody else has,” the couturier reflects. Instead, it “is the ability and the means to live life on your own terms. It’s about dressing the way you want in clothes that make you feel extraordinary.”
Extraordinary: precisely how Tahiliani’s designs make you feel, not just in his couture designs, but across a portfolio spanning ready-to-wear, pret, accessories, and festive menswear through Tasva: a brand launched in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited that owns a 33 per cent stake in the designer’s couture business.
It is the draped form that Tahiliani admits to being most obsessed with. He pioneered the concept sari and brought a new vocabulary of construction and corsetry into the lexicon of Indian occasion wear. “I gravitate towards textiles that drape beautifully,” he notes. “There has been a quantum leap, both in exposure and in weaving techniques, and that is incredibly exciting to witness.” Equally important to him is the task of infusing centuries-old craft with quotidian relevance. “Fashion must align with people’s real needs. It cannot be an abstraction. Art can exist independently and conceptually, but fashion cannot simply be observed, as it must be worn.”
That perspective feels especially resonant today, given a new generation of luxury consumers who are increasingly assured of their tastes. “Historically, we were among the original consumers of luxury, and there is an innate understanding of it. So, I’m not surprised by how engaged we are with luxury today. What surprises me [about today’s luxury consumers] is how discerning they’ve become. Indians learn quickly.”