The year designers added new chapters to the India fashion story

As Gaurav Gupta told Lounge at the start of 2024, “We are a young industry established some three decades ago. Earlier, we focused on dressing Indians only in lehnga-choli. Now, while we continue to focus on wedding clothes, we are also dressing the world in garments that have a global appeal. I think what makes India so unique is that we are looked at as people who think globally but are still very Indian at heart.”

This global appeal will only grow in 2025 as designers collaborate with international names, shop for international addresses, hold shows, dress international celebrities and create garments beyond bridalwear. Here’s a look back at some of the big moments of 2024.

STAR COLLABORATIONS

This was perhaps the first year the Indian fashion industry had a long series of big-ticket collaborations. In February, Sabyasachi Mukherjee came out with a limited edition range of bullet lipsticks, created in collaboration with multinational cosmetics company Estée Lauder. Packed in cases with 24-carat gold-plated accents, each lipstick cost ₹5,400. The collection sold out worldwide thanks to all the online hype. Then came H&M’s collaboration with Anamika Khanna, showcasing the Kolkata creator’s eclecticism and flair for fusing glamour and craftsmanship with contemporary tailoring. The collection was cool and hot enough to appeal as much to a New Yorker as to a Delhiite.

Just before the start of the wedding season, Rahul Mishra x Tod’s dropped a collection of shoes and bags that brought together minimalist Italian aesthetic and hand-embroidered motifs by Indian craftspersons. This was followed by Zara’s first ever collaboration in India with artist-designer Jayesh Sachdev on a series of bright, printed garments, bags and candles. Then came Anita Dongre’s Barbie doll just in time for Diwali, wearing a bindi, golden bangles, choli, floral koti and a lehnga.

WEDDING OF THE YEAR

The months-long wedding of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s richest man, to Radhika Merchant, the daughter of a millionaire, surpassed perhaps the highest limits of ostentatious displays of wealth and made global headlines. But if you looked beyond the guest list, which included Narendra Modi, Mark Zuckerberg and Kim Kardashian, the ceremonies were a fashion extravaganza that showed the length and breadth of India’s artisanal talent, tradition and legacy.

From Radhika Merchant’s art-meets-fashion outfit for her shubh aashirwad—a pink lehnga featuring gold zardozi hand embroidery and resham work, designed by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla in collaboration with artist-sculptor Jayasri Burman—to Isha Ambani’s waist-length gold choti, crafted with diamonds and gemstones by Delhi’s Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas, each bespoke garment and accessory reiterated India’s contribution to the world of design, craft and fashion.

ON THE STAGE

The 2024 Met Gala—officially the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Benefit—saw the biggest representation of Indian designers, each presenting their take on the theme “The Garden of Time”. Mindy Kaling wore a sculptural beige gown by Gaurav Gupta, while stylist Law Roach went for an AFEW Rahul Mishra ensemble—all-ivory white double-breasted jacket embellished with Rousseau-esque vegetal forms with glimmering flared trousers. Hyderabad-based billionaire Sudha Reddy opted for an elaborate ivory silk gown by Tarun Tahiliani. The other headline at the event was the red-carpet appearance of Sabyasachi, the first for an Indian designer, and actor Alia Bhatt in a mint-green Sabyasachi sari.

All the looks delivered when it came to the theme but none wowed as fashion at Met Gala should. One of the dresses that delivered was Mona Patel’s butterfly gown by Iris Van Herpen. The dress, incidentally, was embroidered in India.

ON AND OFF SCREEN

Shows by Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta and Dhruv Kapoor in the fashion capitals of Paris and Milan have become a yearly affair. But what makes them significant is A-listers being spotted in these creations.

For Grammys 2024, singer Janelle Monáe wore a Rahul Mishra dragonfly creation from his couture spring 2024 Superheroes collection.

There were generous international spottings of Gupta’s creations as well. Singers Adele and Beyoncé wore his gowns on tour as did Mindy (Ashley Park) in season 4 of Emily in Paris. In the same Netflix show, Nue, a boutique jewellery brand by Mumbai-born, Antwerp-based entrepreneur Priyanka Mehta, made its mark. Throughout the series, Emily (Lilly Collins), wore jewellery inspired by Indian motifs and architecture.

Such sightings are likely to continue into the coming year—the recent trailer of the new season of The White Lotus (JioCinema) shows one of the characters wearing a kaftan by Goa’s luxury resort brand Verandah.

BEYOND BORDERS

If 2022-23 was the year of corporates announcing investments in designer fashion brands, 2024 was the year they turned their attention to expansion of these labels.

From Abraham and Thakore to Ritu Kumar and Shantnu & Nikhil, several corporate-backed brands expanded their retail footprint, especially in tier-2 cities. They also widened their offerings, foraying into accessories and home décor. Some like Rahul Mishra and AK-OK, both of which have funding from Reliance Brands Ltd, launched lines at US multi-designer store Saks.

Even independent names, including Vaishali S., Gaurav Gupta, Anita Dongre and Lovebirds, continued their international march, either opening international retail stores or joining hands with multi-designer stores in the US, Japan, the UK and West Asia.

More expansions are in store, especially with the opening of the iconic French department store Galeries Lafayette, in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd, in Mumbai in the new year.

SARI, BECAUSE WHY NOT?

The sari is one garment that will remain a constant subject of experimentation.

A hit experiment of this year has been Amit Aggarwal’s take on pre-loved Banarasi saris. Using his signature cording technique, he presented a series of vintage saris turned into a gown at his couture show mid-2024.

Reiterating the timelessness of the sari, a new textiles gallery opened in Delhi in August, showcasing many versions of the nine-yard garment. Featuring 162 objects from the archives of the Crafts Museum, the Indian Textiles Gallery II, Tradition and Innovation, is a walk through the past and present of India through textiles, exhibiting how fashion evolved over centuries.

MISSING THE POINT

Instances abound of the rise of the Indian fashion industry over a span of three decades but despite the progress, there are many areas that remain ignored.

The death of Rohit Bal, one of the first designers of Indian fashion industry, on 1 November, brought to light once again the conversations around archiving of Indian fashion.

“No archives mean that it is difficult to trace the development of a designer, their trajectory over time and their place in the history of fashion,” Divia Patel, senior curator (Asian department) at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, told Lounge in 2022. “In broader terms, no archives mean that it is more difficult to build-up a history of fashion for India, which means Indian fashion will remain underrepresented in global histories of fashion.” Two years later, little has changed in this area.

The other problem that ails Indian, or even global, fashion is size inclusivity. Throughout the year, not one runway show set an example when it came to size inclusivity. In fact, during the annual couture week in Delhi, the same “normal-sized” model was used in different shows to represent different sizes, making clear the intention was tokenism and not real inclusivity.

Finally, eco-consciousness. Considering the world currently has clothing enough to dress the next six generations, as per a British Fashion Council report, and the problem of textile waste and unsustainable practices continues to grow, none of the homegrown brands have shown or even indicated any transparent and clear plans to become more mindful producers of fashion.

Here’s hoping these will become the other areas where brands will shout the loudest in the new year.