India is a melting pot of cultures and the assertion has held true for so long as the nation has existed. From garments to spices and even festivals, there’s nothing the nation has not shared with others throughout the globe. However cultural change and appropriation are completely different. And what has been occurring lately with India’s tradition and the worldwide vogue trade is an occasion that should not go unnoticed, not when the nation’s heritage and vogue have been repeatedly utilized by high-fashion world manufacturers with out correct crediting.At present, the living proof and viral on-line is Fendi’s new baguette. Launched on its web site, the bag has 475 mirrors, vivid embroidery and 39,500 beads scattered throughout the floor, accomplished with 138 hours of expertise. All in all, it appears to be like like one thing one would simply discover in a market in Gujarat throughout or put up Navratri.However what would most likely value not more than Rs 500 in India is being bought by the model on-line for Rs 9.5 lakh or roughly $10,000. If the worth hike doesn’t increase eyebrows, the plain technical title will certainly elevate the feelings. On Fendi’s web site, the merchandise is listed below the title: ‘Baguette 26424: Multicolour Re Version bag with embroidery and mirrors.’Whereas the bag could also be full in itself, what’s lacking is its supply of origin or inspiration. Certainly the model’s historical past doesn’t signify the design’s creation. And with one have a look at the bag, anybody would perceive the place it has actually been impressed from. However the model makes no point out of India, Gujarat, Navratri or the art work.
A warfare on-line
The bag has created a buzz on-line, and this time for all the suitable causes. Netizens together with well-known personalities have known as out the model for its appropriation.Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises, took to X accountable the model for ‘colonising’ Indian crafts: “After the Prada Kolhapuri chappal scandal, right here comes the Fendi “Navratri” bag. Charging ₹8.3 Lakhs for a design that appears precisely like a ₹500 bag accessible within the streets of Gujarat. And 0 credit score to Indian artisans. When will luxurious manufacturers cease colonising our crafts?”Quickly, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw accused the Italian model of cultural appropriation. “It is a case of cultural appropriation & not in good style. Repackaging India’s conventional craft as luxurious, with out credit score to the artisans who created and preserved it, undermines our genuine expertise and heritage.” she tweeted. She added, “Indian craftsmanship deserves recognition, not imitation.”Others joined the brigade on-line; a content material creator posted a video in regards to the bag. She joked that Fendi appeared to be “getting ready us for Navratri this yr.” Her caption learn: “Not Fendi offending our roots.”
Sequence of imitations
Whereas Prada launched sandals much like Kolhapuri chappals, Ralph Lauren showcased earrings akin to Indian jumkas
What Fendi did might need gone simply unnoticed had it not been an act in a collection of such performs made by world manufacturers akin to it.In 2025, Prada confronted backlash for its sandals that carefully resembled Kolhapuri chappals, conventional Maharashtrian slippers with roots going again centuries. Across the similar time, a Scandinavian model known as a dupatta-style scarf a “Scandinavian scarf,” regardless of the drape and material model being peculiarly South Indian.In 2026, Ralph Lauren offered its Fall 2026 girls’s assortment at Paris Style Week. Together with lengthy jackets, fashionable boots and classy pants, the fashions donned lengthy silver earrings. Quite a few viewers accused the model of appropriating Indian tradition by utilizing Indian jewelry known as ‘jhumka’, once more with out attribution.
What occurred with Fendi?
However the uproar over Fendi’s actions is perhaps uncalled for, barely. The bag belongs to Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2026-27 assortment. Maria Grazia Chiuri leads the inventive path of the model now and has constructed a repute for mixing regional craft with excessive vogue.The bag does have an Indian connection because it was made by hand in Mumbai, at a workshop known as Chanakya. Chanakya is considered one of India’s most revered embroidery and craft homes. For many years, it has produced hand-embroidered textiles for main European vogue labels. Its artisans use strategies handed down by way of generations: mirror inlay, thread work, and beading executed completely by hand.Chanakya additionally runs a faculty known as The Chanakya College of Craft, which trains younger girls, many from low-income backgrounds, in embroidery expertise that result in regular work. Dior, Prada and Fendi have used Chanakya’s ateliers for years.Fendi has sourced the bag by way of a real, paid, long-term partnership with Indian artisans. Chanakya’s artisans have been commissioned and paid for his or her work, the best way any expert workshop is paid for producing a luxurious product.Nonetheless, what would possibly fulfill your outrage is the advertising and marketing and naming of the product. Fendi’s product web page provides consumers no cultural context. No observe about Navratri aesthetics. No credit score to the area that impressed the color palette and mirror method. Additionally, no point out of Chanakya, regardless of the workshop’s long-standing ties to the model.Luxurious vogue has a historical past drawing from non-Western craft traditions. From Indian embroidery to Japanese dyeing strategies, all have made debuts in items launched by world manufacturers. Generally the manufacturers do the deed and point out the area, the artisans and the method. Different instances, they go obscure similar to this one. Business members have typically flagged this hole. Cultural inspiration with out admission has by no means passed by with out criticism and for now, Fendi’s vibrant bag stays in a gray zone.