Why is cultural sensitivity missing in fashion?

Manish Malhotra, founder of the eponymous brand, is hardly the first to borrow from traditional culture and craft, but borrowing from Kashmir’s craftsmanship is more complex than using Lucknowi chikankari or phulkari from Punjab. Kashmir is one of the most militarised zones in the world with both political and economic instability. Its papier maché, wood carving, pashmina, carpet-weaving, and aari, sozni and kashida embroideries have long been coveted by art enthusiasts around the world but little has been done to ensure that the benefits reach the artisans.

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Wajahat Rather, a Srinagar-based designer, acknowledges that more Indian designers are acknowledging the artisans they work with, but it’s just as important to reference political and cultural background.

“Borrowing creative elements from different cultures is not inherently wrong, but it becomes problematic when it’s reduced to a marketing strategy to benefit from. Craft cannot be isolated from its context," he says. "For us, art and craft are not just aesthetic expressions; they involve identity, history and self-representation. Art from any conflicted region carries profound political and social implications. Borrowing without proper acknowledgement or respect for their origin perpetuates stereotypes and diminishes the cultural significance. Design is a responsibility, especially when working with the crafts of conflicted regions."

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Context is incredibly important to Jaipur-based Chinar Farooqi, too, the founder of the textile-driven brand Injiri. According to her, true appreciation of a certain craft and its practitioners comes from understanding complete context. “Appreciation is deeper when one cares for a craft, culture or tradition. Appropriation lies in mindlessness about the art form, its application and execution." Farooqi works with craft clusters in Gujarat for Bhujodi and bandhani and in West Bengal for jamdani, imbibing what she calls an “academic approach", spending years understanding the art form and its context “to integrate Injiri's design practices into the craft's traditions, as opposed to the other way round."

At Abraham & Thakore, known for contemporary interpretations of Indian heritage craft forms, the process is a bit different. “As designers who come from a textile-oriented training, we’ve always believed that our intervention should be as contemporary practitioners. When we work with particular clusters, we work with them while being completely mindful of the traditions and the heritage that particular skill represents. I could not go into an area where they're producing a particular motif and bring in something irrelevant or inappropriate," says David Abraham.

While their approaches might be different, Farooqi and Abraham both believe in the importance of cultural sensitivity. “The skills that would interest me, for example, as a designer who wishes to work with craftspeople as makers of a product, (but) those very skills can't be separated from the cultural traditions, history or even their natural ecosystems. Because that is what shapes the craft and the skills. So, when you are engaging with them, you are not only engaging with their skill but all that has shaped it," says Abraham.

Farooqi and Abraham agree on the importance of responsible communication about the collaboration between brands and craftspeople. “In a very large marketing campaign just to refer to a certain region… that's a marketing issue. At Abraham & Thakore, we feel it’s very important to communicate the process behind the product through marketing. We’re not always perfect at it but we try to ensure that the storytelling is done as clearly as possible," says Abraham.

For Farooqi, a textile researcher, documenting the process behind the scenes with an intent to inform is part of establishing the craft’s context. “We navigate political and social complexities because we intend to make a difference," she says.

Shubhanjana Das is an independent writer.

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