New Delhi (CNN) — For decades, India was relegated to fashion’s backyard, with its embroidery and garment export houses manufacturing everything from ready-to-wear to couture for the world’s biggest luxury brands. But recent years have seen a radical shift, as Indian designers are making their presence felt on the global stage. Rahul Mishra is a regular at Paris Haute Couture Week. Earlier this month, Manish Malhotra also debuted at the event, with Anna Wintour sitting in the front row. Gaurav Gupta’s designs are often worn at the Grammys and Cannes Film Festival red carpets. Sabyasachi — a bridal go-to in India — will show at New York Fashion Week in September, a city where the mononymous designer also has a flagship store.
“Consumers today follow designers, collections, and cultural moments from around the world. When they see Indian craftsmanship celebrated in Paris, on the Met Gala carpet, or by international artists, it creates a sense of pride and strengthens their connection with the brand,” said Malhotra, who has not only dressed Bollywood superstars but also Hollywood A-listers, such as Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.
But the business reality behind these global ambitions is that bridal couture remains the financial backbone for most Indian brands. “It gives us a strong foundation to continue investing in our ateliers, our artisans, and the preservation of craftsmanship,” Malhotra added.
Which is why, in Delhi, India Couture Week is one of the industry’s most watched events. The annual showcase, organized by the Fashion Design Council of India, sets trends for the busiest wedding months that start in October. Brides are known to wait for the shows before deciding what to wear.
This year’s event took place against the backdrop of a tense political climate, as youth-led protests against the government gripped the country’s consciousness. Bollywood stars — who typically appear in the shows, and model outfits that quickly sell out — skipped both the runways and front rows for the most part. (The demonstrations have since ended with the resignation of India’s education minister.)
Despite losing some celebrity sparkle, the event continued as scheduled. It opened with a show by Anamika Khanna at the opulent Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, who showed one of the strongest collections of the season, working with female artisans hailing from Barmer, Rajasthan and Kalighat, West Bengal.
This was followed by brands such as Rahul Mishra, Falguni Shane Peacock, JJ Valaya, Rimzim Dadu and Kunal Rawal at Taj Palace in New Delhi. And then there are designers who show independently around the same time, such as Gaurav Gupta, Jade by Monica & Karishma, and Manish Malhotra this year.
New to India Couture Week was the designer Masaba Gupta, who made her much-anticipated debut at the event on Saturday. Supermodels Carol Gracias walked out in the first look — a sherwani jacket worn over an anarkali dress, carrying a briefcase embroidered with the map of India. And Madhu Sapre closed the show in Gupta’s vision of a quintessential Indian bride in red.
Ahead of the show, Gupta told CNN that the money made from bridalwear, fuels “the rest of the business, pays for our dreams, and future plans.” Her brand House of Masaba gained immense popularity through her quirky ready-to-wear collections and prints, and has recently pivoted to bridal couture. Though she is still keeping her playful DNA intact, as was seen in bold use of colors, and embroidered motifs such as pineapples, candies and palms in this collection.
“Occasion wear has contributed to 80 percent of my business since 2018,” she revealed. “If you want to create longevity and a legacy brand, you have to play where the consumer is.”
And in India, that playing field is the country’s mammoth wedding industry, valued at $130 billion by US investment firm Jefferies in 2024, second in the world only to China. Jewely and clothing claim a significant portion of the spending in this market, with the average Indian allocating a massive chunk of their lifesavings for this one event.
The economics of Indian couture
India doesn’t have as many museum galas, operas or fundraising events as the West, said Tarun Tahiliani, who has been in the business of designing Indian festive wear for over three decades and showed his new collection at the historic cultural center Bikaner House on Sunday. “Weddings are the universal ‘big’ occasion people dress up for. It’s a cultural phenomenon here,” he said.
Tahiliani staged a brief presentation with models in his latest designs — the most standout being a series of gowns with foam corsets that mimicked the human torso, draped with fabrics in the same color. The other highlight was an immersive fashion exhibition spread over two floors.
“Indians have made a lot of money in the last 20 to 30 years — people are living incredible lifestyles, are exposed to the West, and are pulling all stops for their celebrations. The wedding has now blown up to some LSD version of what it was 20 years ago,” added Tahiliani.
Guest lists of hundreds of people and celebrations lasting up to three or four days are hardly uncommon, usually a mix of traditional rituals and elaborate parties. India’s busiest wedding and festive season typically runs from October to April, timed with auspicious dates and favorable weather.
But in recent times, the itinerary for the wealthy — and not just billionaire families like the Ambanis — has also expanded to include pre-wedding getaways and galas, each with dedicated themes and dress codes, making wedding-adjacent festivities a year-round proposition. The couple and their families aside, wedding guests too feel the need to cultivate the perfect wardrobe, spending on several new pieces every season.
This was something Gupta — like most designers on the calendar — factored into her collection, she said, creating options for “people around the wedding,” and not just the bride.
The opportunity isn’t lost on the international brands that have expanded into India either. Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Bvlgari are among brands that release limited edition collections during India’s peak festive season, hoping to capture a slice of the country’s fast-growing luxury spending, which consulting firm Bain & Company projects will more than triple to hit €25 to €30 billion ($27 to $32 billion) by 2030.
According to Mishra — who collaborated with Tod’s on a line of embroidered shoes and handbags in 2024 — the two markets for bridalwear are typically divided between brides. One who aspires to own their first designer piece, using their wedding as the opportunity to finally splurge. And the other is a wealthier bride shopping for diverse silhouettes for her multiple events, her entire wardrobe customized by the country’s top designers.
It is the latter where Mishra probably thrives. He says more than 50% of his business comes from formalwear like gowns, dresses and separates from his Paris couture collections, purchased by clients in India, Asia and Europe. “We don’t really do the traditional bridal red for India. Instead, our organza jackets and embroidered gowns are more popular,” he said.
But he continues to appeal to brides, especially when he’s back in the country. “I closed my Paris show with a lehenga-inspired gown. And that sets the tone for what I will now show in India,” he said ahead of his presentation on Wednesday.
The increasing global visibility also helps Indian brands forge a deeper relationship with their diaspora clientele — for whom a brand’s international recognition coupled with the use of Indian craftsmanship feels like a bridge between their two worlds. “NRIs (non-resident Indians) are successful, making money in dollars, and want to show their foreign friends how we celebrate. So, there is a lot of cross-pollination now,” said Tahiliani.
Beyond the bridal lehenga
This is reflected on the runways too. While traditional wedding wear — voluminous lehenga sets, saris and sherwanis — remain a constant for every designer, brands are also showing newer, contemporary takes, geared towards the younger generation.
“Women today want to be comfortable, have fun, and dance. They don’t want to manage a 45-inch dupatta,” said Tahiliani, or a 44-pound embroidered lehenga that is impossible to walk in.
“People are getting hotter and fitter, so they are way more comfortable in revealing outfits,” said Gupta. “A barely-there blouse and sari are a given in any collection today.” Plunging necklines, backless gowns, lehengas with high slits are all par for the course now, as are pieces that you can re-style in different ways. Designers have also upped their menswear in recent years — options for Indian grooms now extend well beyond just black bandhgalas or sherwanis with gold embroidery, as was seen in Kunal Rawal’s use of pastels, cropped jackets and tonal French knot detailing.
Tahiliani and Malhotra both attest that more Indians are finally buying couture beyond weddings too. The variations of embellished mini dresses, column gowns and pant suits on the runways this season served as proof.
Though it’s nothing to rival the former’s popularity just yet. Couture and bridalwear have always been seen as synonymous in India.
And while Indian designers innovate with more conceptual, experimental pieces for international runways, the collections they show in India remain decidedly more commercial — focused on classic Indian formal wear.
“Paris gave us the opportunity to explore a different expression of couture. But bridal has been our foundation, and has inspired everything that came after that,” said Malhotra. “Though our Indian and international journeys are not separate stories, they naturally support and strengthen one another.”
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