PHOTO: Women in sarees buying jewellery, Volo817 on Wikimedia Commons
South Asian fashion, with its vibrant colours and intricate embroidery, has made a significant mark on the global runway and has been a subject of interest for major fashion brands for years. However, it has also been a subject of news headlines as many Western fashion brands have released fashion lines closely resembling South Asian pieces. Such cases have created online discourse about the cultural appropriation of South Asian fashion in the fashion industry and drawn parallels to specific historical practices during the colonial era.
Custom made for diplomacy
South Asian fashion has emerged as a major cultural export, showcasing the region’s craftsmanship and textile innovation that are embedded with deep spiritual meanings and aesthetic references, shaping global style narratives. The internationally recognised craftsmanship can be credited to countries such as Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who play significant roles in the global apparel trade. South Asian fashion and craftsmanship has also acted as a form of soft power for the region when worn by prominent figures on the international stage. At the 2026 Met Gala, South Asian craftsmanship drew significant attention with celebrities in attendance such as Isha Ambani, Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra adorning South Asian outfits that incorporated intricate embroidery and historical references to the region.
In the political realm, fashion has also served as a powerful tool for politicians to engage in cultural diplomacy and connect with local South Asian communities. During an eight-day trip to New Delhi in 2018, the former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family frequently wore coordinated traditional Indian attire to honour Indian culture and demonstrate the cultural ties between Canada and India. However, the gesture received mixed reactions as some Indian locals and politicians criticised the garments, describing them as over-choregraphed and unrepresentative of what Indians actually wear. It also made certain people such as Aaron Wudrick, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Association, question the political relevance of the visit. While it is custom for world leaders and their spouses to wear culturally appropriate attire for official state visits, this moment signified the culturally loaded nature of South Asian fashion and what is deemed as a gesture of deep respect or a display of cultural appropriation.
PHOTO: The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau paying obeisance at Sancto-Sanctrum of Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Wikimedia Commons
Repackaging South Asian fashion
While prominent figures like former Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau have intentionally worn South Asian styles and faced accusations of cultural appropriation, major fashion brands have been accused of a more discreet form of cultural appropriation in recent years. These accusations come as brands such as Reformation, Oh Polly and H&M have released fashion lines that closely resemble South Asian designs. With the release of these lines many South Asian TikTokers were quick to notice the similarities with some claiming that Reformation’s blouse and skirt set, released in early 2025, looked similar to a lehenga. Others have also claimed that a gown from Oh Polly resembles the Sharara and H&M’s “long camisole” and trouser set looked a lot like the Shalwar Kameez.
The controversy intensified when brands started rebranding their pieces with Eurocentric labels. For instance, Oh Polly labelled the sharara as a “European dress” and the fashion rental company Bipty, displayed a video depicting white women wearing shawls draped around their chests calling the aesthetic “very European trend”, despite the scarves bearing a strong resemblance to the South Asian dupatta. Many fashion influencers on TikTok helped turn these labels into a micro-trend, rebranding saree blouses as “Ibiza style summer tops” , kurtis as “sheer embellished strappy dresses” and dupattas and sarees as “Scandi girl chic”.
These cases were quick to revive existing debates about what is considered cultural appreciation and what is considered cultural appropriation. South Asian, Kriti Gupta, argued that cultural appreciation requires collaboration, acknowledgement and respect for the historical origins of South Asian fashion. However, other commentators concluded that these cases supported cultural appropriation due to the lack of acknowledgment of the South Asian origins of the clothes. Some also suggested that the brands could have taken the opportunity to collaborate with South Asian designers but have instead resorted to borrowing. In contrast, certain brands like Nike have successfully demonstrated cultural appreciation by acknowledging South Asian designs and collaborating with a Delhi-based brand, NorBlack NorWhite on their 2025 footwear, apparel and bag collection. While brands such as Bipty, have since apologised, other brands like H&M have struggled to take accountability. For instance, H&M rebutted accusations about cultural appropriation claiming that their recent lines took inspiration from “current fashion trends”.
This is not the first time that the topic of cultural appropriation has ignited controversy in the fashion world. In the 1990s, British fashion designer, John Galliano was known for utilising Indigenous American headdresses in his collections and even traditional saree in his designs without recognising their origins, attracting major controversy and protests at the time. Galliano’s influence continues to run deep as the two piece gown that garnered Reformation a lot of criticism, was inspired by a 1990s vintage John Galliano gown and scarf that was owned by Devon Lee Carson, an influencer who collaborated on the collection with the brand.
While fashion is fluid and has historically garnered a reputation of borrowing and remixing different styles from around the world, it has often borrowed at the expense of disadvantaged communities without acknowledgment, inclusion or accountability, which is very reminiscent of colonialist practices.
Colonialist patterns in the design
Since ancient times, South Asia has been renowned for producing wool, pashmina, velvet, silk, carpets and especially its cotton textiles which were exported to imperial China, Greece, Rome, West Africa, throughout the Islamic world and even Southeast Asia. The success of the region’s textile production can be credited to the region’s rich natural resources, which include wool producing sheep in Rajasthan to the wild silk moths in Northeast India and Bangladesh. The textiles went on to be influenced by various settlers such as the Arab merchants who settled in Gujarat by the 10th century and introduced new production techniques, motifs, designs which made a lasting impact on the fashion.
However, from the 17th to the mid 19th century, British colonisation brought sweeping changes to the textile production across the region. In India, the British East India Company and the Raj severely weakened local artisan industries by imposing heavy taxes on traditional weavers, shifting the region from an exporter of finished goods and a major player in the global cotton trade for millennia, to being forced to purchase British produced textiles made from Indian cotton. With the company’s import of different cotton textiles such as Indian chintz and paisley to Britain, the textiles were heavily appropriated, rebranded and commercialised for Western markets. Even in a post-colonial world, these colonialist practices are prevalent as South Asian designs continue to be rebranded and appropriated. For instance, the colourful and patterned bandanas which are often worn as a fashion accessory globally, were originally created through a tie-dyeing South Asian technique known as bandhani during the 18th century, which was later imported to England and anglicised as the bandana. Even as recently as April 2026, the bandhani tie-dyeing technique continues to be commodified as a global fashion powerhouse, Ralph Lauren received backlash for incorporating the bandhani technique in their “Print Cotton Wrap Skirt” without crediting its origins.
PHOTO: Paisley designs, Sialkgraph on Wikipedia Commons
In addition to destroying local textile production, British colonisation also permanently rebranded and altered the traditional designs of South Asian fashion. For instance, the saree, which derives from the Sanskrit word ‘sattika’ was originally a piece of cloth draped around the body that was worn without a blouse or a petticoat and was culturally accepted. However, with the influence of Victorian modesty codes that were imposed during this period, it resulted in the normalisation of the saree blouse for women irrespective of social status.
The Westernisation of South Asian designs imposed by colonisers and reproduced by modern fashion brands has created a hierarchy of aesthetics in which Eurocentric beauty has been treated as the universal norm. This in turn, has left behind a harmful legacy of racism and inequality that many South Asians continue to face in a post-colonial world. Examples of this are seen when western fashion brands repackage South Asian clothes which are considered as “trendy and chic” when worn by westerners while the traditional outfits worn by South Asians are seen as “too ethnic” or “out of place”. Racism and discrimination can also affect those who embrace traditional outfits as South Asian, Manisha Patel, recalls being made fun of in elementary school when her grandmother wore a traditional saree.
In addition to appropriation, certain fast fashion companies are known to exploit cheap labour and resources in the Global South, which is reminiscent of colonialist, economic practices that extracted resources and labour from colonised countries to colonising countries. This exploitation is mostly reflected in the poor working conditions, low wages and unfair labour practices of workers, exacerbating the global inequality gap between the Global North and the Global South. Women who make up the vast majority of garment workers in countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, who are often rural migrants or from marginalised castes, are disproportionately impacted by these practices and also report high levels of gender-based violence in the workplace.
PHOTO: Working conditions of garment workers in Bangladesh, Fahad Faisal on Wikipedia Commons
Economic inequalities for workers are further exacerbated when the traditional craftsmanship of local manufacturers and artisans in the region are not recognised or fairly compensated by global fashion houses. In 2025, Prada was accused of “monetising cultural appropriation” for launching sandals that had a strong resemblance to the Indian Kolhapuri Chappal, without crediting or providing compensation to the original artisans.
POST: Prada accused of copying Indian footwear with $1,200 (AU$ 1,713.59) sandals.
A Desi makeover
These cases expose the tension between innovation and heritage in fashion, an industry that routinely draws inspiration from works of art, traditional garments and indigenous designs. These practices raise complex legal and ethical questions, which concern cultural appropriation. Copyright law is one possible framework for addressing copied designs, but it often struggles to protect traditional cultural expressions because authorship, originality and communal ownership can be difficult to prove. Nevertheless, there are international documents and conventions that may be applied in the broader context of cultural appropriation. For instance, documents by UNESCO deal with expressions of folklore, traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has also developed an international legal instrument on traditional knowledge and cultural expression named the ‘Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge’ dealing with their control, attribution and remuneration.
Although there are existing laws that aim to protect traditional knowledge and cultural expression, stronger initiatives are being taken by South Asians internationally to push back against cultural appropriation. One initiative has been the use of social media platforms by South Asian women, to educate non-South Asians on cultural appropriation. In the early to mid 2010s, discussions about the issue were explored on Tumblr ‘shame blogs’ created by young, diasporic South Asians living in English-speaking countries.These online spaces that allowed Desi women to share their opinions about cultural appropriation and most importantly, provide a safe space for non-Desi people to ask questions about cultural appropriation without judgement. The same demographic has used other platforms such as TikTok in recent years, to call out fashion brands for appropriation, thereby holding brands accountable for their actions.
Beyond the online space, young South Asian designers in particular, have also chosen to redefine contemporary fashion by showcasing South Asian-inspired collections on fashion runways like the South Asian New York Fashion Week. Shipra Sharma, the co-founder of the event, pointed to the use of materials such as raw silk and the bandhani designs in the collections, stating that “these elements gained popularity in South Asians designs but were not given due credit to the community”. Designers such as Sheel Yernini have also added a Gen Z twist to the traditional designs in her collection to connect with younger generations in the community.
With all its glamour and glory, fashion has evolved as a multifaceted cultural phenomenon that has the ability to initiate diplomacy, spark controversy, unmask colonial histories and share stories of resistance for South Asians. But with the complexity and beauty that it offers, there comes an increased responsibility for global fashion brands, designers and consumers to treat the traditional roots of South Asian fashion with sensitivity and appreciation and to rewrite the history that deprived this community of inclusion, acknowledgement and recognition in the fashion world.
Anandi Elikewela
Anandi is a third-year Arts student specialising in International Relations. She is particularly interested in feminist foreign policy, international defence and security and developments in US and Middle Eastern politics. She is also passionate about analysing global topics through an intersectional lens in her writing. In her free time, Anandi enjoys reading, rewatching her favourite comfort TV shows and spending time with friends.