Why Cultural Heritage Should Drive Modern Fashion
We are living in a moment of enormous creative opportunity for South Asian designers. Global runways are finally paying attention — but attention is only meaningful if we show up with something authentic to say. For me, that means going back to the source: to Nakshi Katha, to the women who stitched their daily lives into fabric before the word "design" existed in our vocabulary.
Fashion that borrows from heritage without credit is appropriation. Fashion that grows from heritage — that is studied, understood, and reinterpreted with intention — is something else entirely. It is a living tradition. When I develop a print inspired by Nakshi Katha motifs, I am not decorating a dress. I am continuing a conversation that has been going on for centuries. The needle is just a different kind of pen.
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