There is not a single luxury house that does not produce in India.
We've recently had Beyonce in her tours wearing a few of our outfits.
High quality.
Exclusive.
And European.
The hallmarks of the 180 billion euro luxury fashion industry.
But unknown to many consumers is a closely guarded secret.
Countries like India are often at the heart
of what’s considered European luxury fashion.
For decades, luxury fashion houses obscured their business ties
to developing nations like India or Vietnam,
where labor is cheap, and hard-to-find handicraft skills plentiful.
Even if you produce in Europe,
at the end, the manufacturing, the reality of that business, is done in India.
Fashion executives have long seen labels saying “Made in France”
or “Made in Italy”
as key to higher profits.
They worry about Western consumer stereotypes that question quality.
There’s also the optics of sourcing goods
from places where working conditions can be poor.
But that’s increasingly contested by those fighting for transparency
in how luxury fashion credits its suppliers.
We set out to investigate what’s behind a fashion label.
India’s contribution to luxury fashion spans empires.
The nation’s embroiderers were traditionally mostly Muslim men
who had migrated to Mumbai from rural parts of the country.
They’re known by the Urdu word “karigar,”
or artisan.
Embroidery has always been the distinction between the elite,
the royal court, and the different layers of society.
Even if a creation is done in Paris, even if we have ateliers in Paris
doing embroidery, or in Italy, or in England,
India has really become the backbone of the embroidery industry.
From the 1980s, luxury brands have relied on India
for much of their embroidery.
Today, there are two kinds of textile facilities:
first, export houses in safe, well-ventilated facilities.
Second, subcontractors in small factories.
We're sitting in a small factory in central Mumbai
that has completed subcontracted orders for some of the most established
international designers.
When order volumes are large, Indian embroidery export houses take orders
to subcontractors throughout the city.
Sometimes they work with as many as a dozen subcontractors for a single order.
This is the bottom of the supply chain,
and the working conditions are often the worst.
Sometimes artisans, to save on rent,
sleep on the factory floor after they've completed their work for the day.
India is now one of the world’s largest garment exporters,
with a textiles and apparel market worth more than $150 billion in 2021.
But the country’s connection to Western luxury brands remained secret for years.
We’ve forgotten the past.
We’ve forgotten the excellence of craft.
The big question in fact is to know why these luxury brands
are so hesitant in putting “Made in India” on these products,
when they should be, by law, putting in “Made in India.”
The global fashion system is built on exploitation.
It's not coincidence, but by design, that most of fashion today is produced
in regions where freedom of association is restricted,
where it's difficult for workers to exert their rights.
So when it comes to obscuring supply chains,
there's a myth that being transparent is commercially sensitive,
that it would harm business to be transparent and disclose
who and where your clothes are made.
Improved transparency is absolutely essential to protecting the people
who make our clothes, who are often some of the most vulnerable people
in global supply chains.
Our investigation looked at one jacket as a case study.
The garment, embellished entirely with delicate micro-mirrors,
retails for almost 43,000 Euros (about $45,000).
And according to exporters in Mumbai, it took more than 2,000 hours
to embroider in India.
Seamstresses estimated the piece then underwent less than 100 hours
of stitching and finishing touches in Europe.
It carries a “Made in France” tag, reflecting European Union regulations
that define the country of origin as the place where the last substantial transformation took place — not where the bulk of labor was completed.
transformation took place, not where the bulk of labor was completed.
A Dior spokesperson told Bloomberg that even though the mirrored coat is
an exceptional piece that showcases India’s “savoir-faire,”
nevertheless “it was made in France,
which justifies the dedicated ‘Made in’ label.”
Still, in March 2023, Dior became one of the first international luxury brands
to showcase a collection in India
saying it’s determined to promote the country’s artisanal legacy worldwide.
Chanakya International, the Indian export house that embroidered clothing
for the Dior Mumbai collection, declined to comment.
What we are very happy about and elated about is that
actually Dior took a first step to announce its supplier.
We were all kept hidden for a long time.
It has changed the way the others are thinking
putting us more forward for recognition of our work
and our embroidery and our craftsmanship
which earlier they wanted to show maybe that it was done in Paris or Italy.
Now they are happy to say that this is made, this embroidery is done in India.
India’s growing importance across industries
has made the world’s most populous nation impossible to ignore.
One recipient of this attention is Gayatri Khanna.
Her company, Milaaya Embroideries, has climbed atop the ranks of Mumbai’s
highest-profile export houses.
She counts Versace, Balmain and Dolce & Gabbana
as just some of her clients.
Today we are a 450-employee business.
We are in the center in the heart of Mumbai.
We have over 150-odd clients,
which are amazing and we cherish all our collaborations.
When you talk about “Made In India” you tend to celebrate
craft which is coming from India,
at the same time you are also celebrating
the people who are making it.
I think it is also all about how to dream together.
For many in the industry, the “Made in India” garment tag
is paving the way for a younger, progressive wing of creatives,
who want more fairness and transparency in how luxury fashion
credits its suppliers.
So today I feel that things are slightly changing. Slowly changing.
Because they cannot lie anymore.
They have to acknowledge that in the last 30 years, they have been
manufacturing in the country, manufacturing in India.