Indian Cultural Heritage in the Global Fashion Market: From H&M to Prada

This study examines the ethical, economic, and cultural implications of global fashion brands appropriating indigenous Indian craft traditions, using the H&M–Sabyasachi Wanderlust collection and Prada’s Kolhapuri-inspired sandals as illustrative cases. H&M’s collaboration with Sabyasachi sold out within minutes, leveraging the designer’s haute couture aesthetic rooted in Sanganeri and Kalamkari traditions, yet excluded local artisans entirely. Similarly, Prada’s sandals replicated centuries-old Kolhapuri designs without crediting the makers, highlighting persistent gaps in legal and ethical protections for traditional crafts, even when protected under Geographical Indications (GI). These instances reveal a structural imbalance: global brands capture disproportionate economic benefits while the artisans, whose design vocabularies constitute cultural capital, remain marginalized. Grassroots advocates, such as Laila Tyabji and Dastkar, emphasize that mass-market industrial reproduction erodes artisanal livelihoods, threatening centuries-old practices and local economies. The cases raise broader questions about responsible business practices, cultural intellectual property, and the role of consumers, governments, and NGOs in ensuring ethical engagement. They underscore the need for new norms, policies, and business models that go beyond symbolic acknowledgment to include fair compensation, supply-chain inclusion, and long-term sustainability of indigenous traditions. The study also interrogates the societal purpose of business, arguing that profit-maximizing models, particularly in fast fashion, risk replicating colonial dynamics by exploiting vulnerable communities. Ultimately, it calls for a reimagining of global fashion practices that balances aesthetic inspiration with cultural respect, equitable economic participation, and the preservation of living craft traditions.