A single millimetre. That is the margin of tolerance at which the artisans at Chanakya School of Craft are expected to work. It is a strangely revealing number for an organisation now presenting monumental works of fibre, sculpture and embroidery. The scale may have changed, but the principle has not: the spectacular is built from […]

PILITAXI, the travelling pop-up exhibition of homegrown Indian brands, returns to Hyderabad this weekend with more than 25 labels across fashion, jewellery and lifestyle. The two-day showcase will be held at CCT Spaces, Banjara Hills, with options spanning travel, wedding and festive dressing. Founded by Bijaya Dutta, Pilitaxi curates brands for their craft, creativity and […]

Costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie poses at his home in Palm Springs, Calif., on October 20, 2021. | Photo Credit: AP Hollywood designer Bob Mackie, known for making stars such ​as Cher and Elton John ‌sparkle, died on Monday (September 14, 2026) at 87, ​according to a ⁠post on his official Instagram account. His […]

Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s ‘Bengal Byzantine Broadway’ at New York Fashion Week  | Photo Credit: Reuters Twenty years ago, Sabyasachi Mukherjee went to New York with a collection called ‘Snail’, a move perversely quiet for a designer known for bohemia and handcraft: school uniforms, maternity wear, clean shapes, cotton and restrained embroidery, arguing for slowing down in an […]

Outfit from the new collection | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement At the Runway Seven Fashion Awards in New York on September 14 this year, a feature film accompanied KH House of Khadar’s showcase of its latest collection Sutura. The clatter of wooden looms and the rhythm of weavers at work set the stage and the […]

As per the latest All India Handloom Census (2019-20), published by the Ministry of Textiles, India is home to over 35 lakh handloom workers (weavers and allied workers). Approximately 90% of the sector is located in rural areas, with the highest concentrations in Assam, West Bengal, Manipur, and Tamil Nadu. Despite this large concentration of […]

Peter Lee is a man who wears many hats. The Singaporean collector, of Peranakan Chinese ancestry, is an independent scholar, researcher and curator. He is also an Indophile who believes that the “love of checks” unites Peranakan and South Indian textile collectors. “My father and grandfather wore what we call Pulicat sarongs at home [which […]

Zandra Rhodes has 100 pages of photos on Getty Images, each photo a lesson in chromatic flamboyance. It’s not just the signature hot pink hair and electric blue eyeshadow but the outsized rings and brooches, the kaleidoscopic prints and her appetite for life. When we get on a video call, she talks about her upcoming […]

A choli from Surat, a chaniya from Vadodara, Navaratri glares from an online brand, metal handcuffs and a quirky musafir ring from an Instagram seller. Boxes arrive at my doorstep one after the other. I am already besotted with Navaratri bindis and tattoos, while hair accessories, haathphool and more still sit in my shopping cart. […]

Pranav Kirti Misra of Huemn presents his streetwear label at Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI on Friday in New Delhi. His name is missing from the revised electoral roll for his Lucknow constituency, where he voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He is not alone. Ramesh Menon, 52, founder of Save the Loom, a […]