Designers Zaid Khatri, Amruta Vankar, Mubbasirah Khatri, Muskan Khatri, and Shakil Ahmed during the Design Craft Presents Artisan Designers of Somaiya Kala Vidya show in the 25th year of Lakmé Fashion Week 2025 at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai
| Photo Credit: Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
Indian fashion is entering an era of quiet reckoning — one where the silent hands behind couture’s most intricate weaves and prints are finally stepping into the light. For decades, artisans remained the invisible scaffolding of Indian fashion’s most-celebrated narratives. Now, the script is shifting. At Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI’s March 2025 edition, this shift felt not only palpable but overdue too. In a special show, titled Design Craft Presents Artisan Designers of Somaiya Kala Vidya, master craftspeople emerged not as footnotes but as the headline.
Established in 2014, Somaiya Kala Vidya (SKV), situated in Anjar, Kutch, is a pioneering institution that flips the script on how we view artisans and design. Founded on the belief that the custodians of India’s textile legacy deserve more than just seasonal patronage, SKV empowers traditional artisans with the tools of modern design, branding, and entrepreneurship — without asking them to abandon their roots.
Unlike urban design schools that often view craft through an outsider’s lens, SKV is embedded within the artisan community. It offers structured, culturally sensitive education to master artisans — many of whom have inherited centuries-old techniques of weaving, dyeing, or embroidery. The curriculum, taught in the local language and tailored around the artisans’ calendars, balances aesthetics with market relevance.
A model takes the runway during the Zaid Khatri show
| Photo Credit:
Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
The runway bore witness to a powerful confluence of tradition, technique and self-expression anchored by five artisan-led labels: Ajrakh Gharana by Zaid Khatri, Alaicha by Amruta Vankar, Elysian by Mubbasirah Khatri, Musk by Muskan Khatri, and Neel Batik by Shakil Ahmed. Each collection offered a distinct voice, rooted in heritage yet unafraid to play with silhouette, colour, and context.
With ajrakh as the centre of attraction, Zaid Khatri’s Eternal Ajrakh collection for his label Ajrakh Gharana was a journey from the past to the present and then into the future. It was a poetic reflection on time, layering ajrakh’s storied geometry with sleek, contemporary tailoring. His work asked a poignant question: Can tradition stretch into the future without losing its soul? Judging by his restrained yet evocative presentation — indigo jackets layered over fluid separates — the answer felt like a resounding yes.
Amruta Vankar’s Alaicha drew from her mashru weaving legacy, translating the tactile language of handloom into quiet luxury. Her palette was earthy, her cuts clean — each look paid an ode to rhythm and repetition, the two things every weaver knows intimately.
Amruta Vankar presents ‘Alaicha’
| Photo Credit:
Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
Mubbasirah Khatri (the only female ajrakh artisan and artisan designer in Kutch) designed the Anatomy collection for the label Elysian. Mubbasirah turned to ajrakh presenting a softer, dreamier take on the resist-dye technique. There was romance in her folds — fluid dresses in pastel tones, dotted with the signature clusters of tie-dye that whispered of patience and precision.
Muskan Khatri’s Mystery for the label Musk (spotlighting the tie and dye of the bandhani craft) brought youthful bravado to the runway, with cropped jackets, flared trousers, and a clever clash of patterns. Hers was a voice of defiance — proof that tradition does not have to mean restraint. It can flirt, rebel, and still hold on to its roots.
‘Elysian’ by Mubbasirah Khatri
| Photo Credit:
Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
The beauty of the traditional batik craft was unveiled by Shakil Ahmed’s label Neel Batik for the collection Tradition to Modern. It was a striking interplay of bold hues and thoughtful silhouettes. Shades of vibrant red punctuated the timeless palette of black and white, moving together in fluid harmony across pieces titled Saadla and Bepota.
Saris anchored the Indian line-up with quiet strength, while the Western silhouettes carried a refined Indo-fusion sensibility. Textural play added depth to the collection, with abstract patterns drawn from Shakil’s own Instagram photographs — transforming digital inspiration into wearable art.
What united these five voices was not just their connection to Kutch or their training at Somaiya Kala Vidya (SKV), but their refusal to be boxed into categories of craft or costume. These were not artisans-turned-designers. They were designers — full stop — claiming space on their own terms.
Shakil Ahmed’s ‘Neel Batik’
| Photo Credit:
Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
At a time when fashion is eager to greenwash its image with buzzwords like ‘handmade’ and ‘sustainable,’ this showcase offered something rarer: authenticity without appropriation. It re-centred the narrative around the people who have always kept Indian fashion’s legacy alive — not in glossy lookbooks, but in dusty workshops, under the sun, dye-stained and dye-driven.
Muskan Khatri’s ‘Musk’
| Photo Credit:
Perfect Shadows / FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week / RISE Worldwide
By giving these voices a runway, Lakmé Fashion Week was not just curating a show — it was correcting a long-standing omission. And as the applause rang out, it was clear: the future of Indian fashion is not about discovering the next trend. It is about returning to the roots, and finally, listening to the hands that have always known the way.
Published – March 29, 2025 05:56 pm IST
