Chanakya has long supplied Europe’s luxury houses. Now it wants to change how the world sees Indian craft

Praachi Raniwala

Mumbai, India (CNN) — It’s no secret that Europe’s biggest luxury houses routinely rely on Indian craftspeople for some of their most intricate handiwork. Now, amid growing conversations around attribution, cultural appropriation and transparency, some brands are beginning to acknowledge the artisans behind their collections.

Chanakya International is one of the most prominent Indian ateliers working with major Western fashion labels. The Mumbai-based textile and embroidery house has collaborated with more than 50 international brands, including Fendi, Dior, Gucci and Prada.

After decades of anonymity — among the wealthy shoppers who wear its creations, at least — Chanakya’s public profile was dramatically boosted in 2023, when Dior and its then-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri openly spotlighted its artisans’ role in the label’s landmark runway show in Mumbai. Three years on, the atelier is now celebrating its 40th anniversary with a series of new exhibitions across India’s financial capital.

At Mumbai’s oldest museum, the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, “En Route” showcases hand-embroidered maps made at Chanakya’s non-profit School of Craft, which trains disadvantaged women in centuries-old textile techniques. Nearby, at the company’s headquarters, another exhibition, entitled “Garden of Gestures,” features larger-than-life crimson sculptures of the Saptamatrikas (the seven “mother” goddesses in Hinduism) that were handmade entirely from bamboo, raffia and cotton.

Chiuri, who is now Fendi’s chief creative officer, also visited Chanakya’s anniversary exhibitions in a show of support. “Across the many projects we have realized together, I have seen Chanakya bring greater visibility to the depth, sophistication and creative potential of Indian craftsmanship on an international stage, while remaining deeply committed to the people and knowledge that sustain it,” she said in an e-mail to CNN.

For Karishma Swali, the daughter of Chanakya’s founder and the company’s creative director for more than two decades, the exhibitions are not just about promoting the atelier’s own work. They are also about encouraging the fashion industry to recognize India’s savoir faire at large.

“My father started Chanakya with this very simple premise of wanting to share India’s finest craftsmanship with the world,” said Swali. He wanted to “find ways to preserve and perpetuate it,” she added.

Custodians of craft

In 1986, Swali’s father Vinod Shah — a former iron and steel entrepreneur — moved from Gujarat to Mumbai with 22 master artisans, known as “ustads,” and one goal: celebrating India’s visual vocabulary and cultural dialect with the world.

Womenswear label Alberta Ferretti was among the first brands he worked with. “Even though it was a novel idea back then, the Italians were always open to meeting us,” recalled Swali, who joined the business with her brother in the mid-1990s, having both trained in Italy and with craft communities across India.

The company continues to be headquartered in Mumbai, with an office in Bologna, Italy — and a team of over 50 designers and over 1,400 artisans, some with a lineage of craftspeople going back as far as 13 generations.

“We make about eight collections of textile ideas every year, and all (global) conversations begin from there. Brands select the ideas that feel most resonant,” Swali explained. “Sometimes we build around a mood, or even just a word, that they share with us. It’s far more collaborative than a brand simply telling us, ‘This is what we want.’”

This process sees Chanakya pore over its research archive, featuring more than 150,000 sample materials and 10,000 historical textiles and artifacts, to “bring back crafts out of circulation, but with an evolved language,” said Swali.

Her favorite is a 16th-century Mughal craft gesture called “chaand jaal,” which uses pure silver threads to create self-standing filigree lace without a base. And then there’s the use of fibers like raffia, which is turned into clothing using techniques like lace-making, applique and quilting. The atelier’s eco-friendly collections, made entirely of waste materials, have meanwhile been used by brands like Maison Margiela and Dior.

“We spend a lot of time understanding material intelligence within India, and reworking their tenacity and strength for couture,” Swali said.

Another one of Chanakya’s creations — an artwork shown at the Venice Biennale in 2024 — was made entirely using “rafugari,” the fast-disappearing South Asian art of darning, meant to repair tears and holes in textiles and extend their lifespan. “Rafugari is an incredible act of perpetuation. It lets you create heirlooms. We wanted to patronize it and carry it forward,” Swali explained, adding: “It’s a metaphor for craft, in that way, isn’t it? If there are no patrons, disciplines are going to deteriorate.”

Who gets to claim craft?

Failure to properly credit artisans’ work can spell a major PR disaster for labels, yet some of the biggest names in fashion are still frequently accused of appropriating Indian garments and craft techniques.

Earlier this year, Ralph Lauren was accused of appropriating India’s “bandhani” technique, as a print on a skirt, without crediting its alleged origins. (The label has not publicly commented on the criticism and did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.)

Prada, meanwhile, faced backlash in 2025 over its “leather flat sandals,” which observers in India said resembled kolhapuri chappals, a footwear style from Maharashtra. The brand later acknowledged that the sandals were “indeed inspired by Indian footwear,” and went on to work with craft bodies in western Indian states on a limited-edition version of the shoe.

Even a Fendi Baguette bag featuring mirror work by Chanakya, recently came under fire for what some Indian social media users felt was a lack of sufficient credit. The Italian brand however, previously acknowledged the atelier’s contributions on social media and are bringing Chanakya artisans to an upcoming Harrods pop-up in London to demonstrate craft techniques.

“Cultural appreciation and collaboration though, lends to the life and possibilities of that craft,” said Swali, citing Dior’s Pre-Fall 2023 show as an inflection point. “It was particularly important in dismantling this idea that brands come to India just because it’s cheaper to work here,” she added. “We work with couture brands of the world because we have an incredibly versatile vocabulary, and the finest artisans in the world. India is the only place left with this level of skill.”

And when collaborations are presented correctly, the impact goes far beyond just a headline or good PR, Swali stressed. “It’s important to be sensitive towards a community that has done the work for decades and generations — there is so much devotion and courage in an artisan’s lifetime of “riyaz” (practice). You need to recognize and respectfully work with textile traditions unique to a country.”

When Chanakya’s artisans attended the Dior show in 2023, to see their work on the runway, “you cannot imagine what that did for their families and their villages,” she added. “They understood their contribution on a global stage.”

The ripple effect may help galvanize craft education at a time when many young artisans are considering exiting the profession altogether, a concerning trend Swali is working to reverse.

Her sights are now set on collaborating with global universities, to institutionalize craft, and taking the country’s design language to shoppers worldwide through her ready-to-wear and lifestyle brand, Chorus.

As for the goal her father founded Chanakya on four decades ago, Swali believes it remains intact and unwavering: Even if their artisans never leave India, their handicraft will, thanks to their work, travel the world.

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