India in Fashion

India in Fashion explores the beautiful and sophisticated history and aesthetics of traditional Indian fashion, dress, and textiles and their profound impact on European and American fashion from the eighteenth century to today.

This intoxicating and visually rich volume with texts by experts from India, Europe, and North America is published to accompany a major exhibition that celebrates the long historical contributions that Indian dress, textiles, and embroidery have had on Western fashion. From the introduction of chintz dressmaking fabrics in the eighteenth century to the early nineteenth-century vogue for light Indian fabrics, paisleys, and chikan embroideries to larger realities of empire and cultural appropriation, this volume features paintings, fashion magazine editorials, and portraits of influential people who championed Indian style throughout history.

Traditional hues of brilliant royal blue, marigold, and fuchsia; intricate ikat and calico patterns; and sumptuous textiles enliven every page. Archival and contemporary fashion stories include kaleidoscopic images by photographers such as Henry Clarke in Udaipur in 1967, Arthur Elgort in Jaipur in 1999, and Mikael Jansson in Goa with Indian actress Lakshmi Menon in 2011. Traditional Indian embroidery techniques; design motifs; and dress forms such as saris, jodhpurs, and turbans are reimagined by renowned designers Paul Poiret, Elsa Schiaparelli, Pierre Balmain, Zandra Rhodes, Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Gianni Versace, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Alexander McQueen, in addition to a wealth of contemporary Indian designers.

About the Author

Hamish Bowles is an author, fashion collector, and historian. He is the editor in chief of World of Interiors and the global editor at large at American Vogue.