The Era of Indian Crafts in Global Luxury!
Much of the embroidery, weaving, and fine handwork behind the world’s luxury fashion is done in India by artisans whose names the customer never learns. This is the “invisible journey” that Anindita Sardar, Design Head at Titan Company and a veteran of more than 26 years across textile export houses, FabIndia, and Taneira, unpacked in a session hosted by Parul University’s Faculty of Design and Training and Placement Cell. Her message was both a challenge and an opportunity for the next generation of Indian designers.
The Invisible Contribution of Indian Craft
India holds a vast network of artisans and craft communities with highly specialized skills, embroidery, weaving, textile production, surface ornamentation, and centuries-old techniques. These skills have long fed the global fashion and luxury markets. Drawing on her early years in textile export houses, Anindita Sardar described how Indian fabrics, embroidery, and craftsmanship were routinely incorporated into products made for international brands, where the making was Indian, but the finished product carried someone else’s name.
Making vs Authorship: The Central Distinction
This gap, between doing the work and owning the identity, is the heart of the matter. Indian craftspeople may supply the technical skill that executes a design, while the creative identity, brand recognition, customer relationship, and commercial value stay with another company. Sardar captured it in a single, memorable line:
The hand is Indian; the signature is often not. – Anindita Sardar, Design Head, Titan Company
It names a real imbalance: India has exceptional making capabilities but has historically had fewer opportunities to own the creative authorship and the brand value that sits on top of that craftsmanship. Recognising the distinction is the first step to changing it.
From Manufacturing Hub to Design Nation
Anindita Sardar’s central argument is optimistic: India’s manufacturing strength is not a limitation but a foundation. The country already has a large, diverse ecosystem of textiles, crafts, artisans, and techniques, exactly the raw material from which original design and luxury brands are built. The task is to add authorship, identity, and commercial systems on top of it.
Designers such as Sabyasachi, Rahul Mishra, and Gaurav Gupta were discussed as examples of Indian designers who have earned growing international visibility, evidence that Indian design can be recognized globally when it is backed by a strong creative identity and consistent brand-building.
Ready to move from making to authorship? Whether you’re starting or levelling up, Parul University’s Faculty of Design has a path for you: Bachelor of Design (B.Des) in Fashion Design and Technology, Diploma in Fashion Design & Technology, Certificate Program in Fashion Designing, and M.Des in Fashion Merchandising.
Why This Matters for the Next Generation?
Building a globally recognized luxury house is a long game, requiring patience, consistency, and investment rather than quick returns, and it needs more than design talent alone. But the opportunity is real. Rather than remaining a sourcing and manufacturing destination, India can become a country that develops and owns internationally recognized design identities. For students, that is the invitation: not just to make beautifully, but to author, to build brands, tell stories, and claim the creative signature that India’s craftsmanship has long deserved. The chapters that follow, on building a luxury brand, modernising craft, story telling and careers in design, unpack how.
