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

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.

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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.

Chanakya International

“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.

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.”

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.

欧洲各大奢侈品牌经常依赖印度工匠制作一些最精美的手工艺品，这已是公开的秘密。如今，随着人们对产品归属、文化挪用和透明度等问题的讨论日益增多，一些品牌开始承认其系列背后的工匠。

Chanakya International是与众多西方知名时尚品牌合作的印度顶尖工作室之一。这家位于孟买的纺织刺绣公司已与包括Fendi、Dior、Gucci和Prada在内的50多个国际品牌合作。

在经历了数十年的默默无闻——至少在穿着其作品的富裕消费者群体中是如此——之后，Chanakya 的公众形象在 2023 年迎来了显著提升。当时，Dior 及其创意总监 Maria Grazia Chiuri 在品牌于孟买举办的里程碑式时装秀上，公开聚焦 Chanakya 工匠们的贡献。三年后，这家工坊正在印度金融之都孟买举办一系列全新展览，庆祝其成立 40 周年。

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在孟买最古老的博物馆——巴乌·达吉·拉德博士博物馆，“一路同行”展览展出了查纳基亚非营利工艺学校制作的手工刺绣地图。该学校致力于培训弱势妇女，传授她们传承数百年的纺织技艺。在附近的查纳基亚公司总部，另一个名为“姿态花园”的展览则展出了真人大小的七母神（印度教中的七位“母神”）的深红色雕塑，这些雕塑完全由竹子、拉菲草和棉花手工制作而成。

现任芬迪首席创意官的基乌里也参观了查纳基亚的周年纪念展览，以示支持。她在给CNN的电子邮件中写道：“在我们共同完成的众多项目中，我亲眼见证了查纳基亚如何将印度工艺的深度、精湛技艺和创造潜力提升到国际舞台的更高水平，同时始终致力于传承和发扬印度工艺的人民和知识。”

对于Chanakya创始人之女、担任公司创意总监二十余年的卡里什玛·斯瓦利（Karishma Swali）而言，这些展览不仅仅是为了推广工作室自身的作品，更是为了鼓励时尚界全面认可印度的精湛技艺。

查纳基亚国际

“我父亲创办Chanakya的初衷很简单，就是想与世界分享印度最精湛的工艺，”斯瓦利说道。她补充说，他希望“找到保护和传承这种工艺的方法”。

1986 年，斯瓦利的父亲维诺德·沙阿（Vinod Shah）——一位前钢铁企业家——带着 22 位被称为“乌斯塔德”（ustads）的工匠大师从古吉拉特邦搬到了孟买，他们的目标只有一个：向世界展示印度的视觉语言和文化方言。

女装品牌 Alberta Ferretti 是他最早合作的品牌之一。“尽管在当时这是一个新颖的想法，但意大利人总是乐于与我们见面，”斯瓦利回忆道。她和哥哥在 20 世纪 90 年代中期加入了这家公司，两人都曾在意大利和印度各地的手工艺社区接受过培训。

公司总部仍然设在孟买，在意大利博洛尼亚设有办事处，拥有超过 50 名设计师和 1400 多名工匠，其中一些工匠的传承可以追溯到 13 代以前。

“我们每年大约会推出八个纺织品创意系列，所有（全球）对话都由此展开。品牌会选择那些最能引起共鸣的创意，”斯瓦利解释道。“有时，我们会围绕他们分享的一种情绪，甚至仅仅是一个词来展开设计。这比品牌简单地告诉我们‘这就是我们想要的’要更具合作性。”

斯瓦利说，这一过程使得查纳基亚仔细研究其研究档案，其中包含超过 15 万份样本材料和 1 万件历史纺织品和文物，目的是“让不再流通的工艺重现，但要用一种发展演变的语言来表达”。

她最喜欢的是16世纪莫卧儿王朝的一种名为“月牙形网”（chaand jaal）的工艺，这种工艺使用纯银线编织出无需底托即可独立成型的精美花丝。此外，她还运用拉菲草等纤维，通过蕾丝制作、贴花和绗缝等技法将其制成服装。这家工作室的环保系列完全由废弃材料制成，目前已被Maison Margiela和Dior等品牌采用。

“我们花了很多时间了解印度的材料特性，并重新利用它们的韧性和力量来制作高级时装，”斯瓦利说。

查纳基亚的另一件作品——一件将于2024年在威尼斯双年展上展出的艺术品——完全采用“拉夫加里”（rafugari）工艺制成。拉夫加里是南亚一种正在迅速消失的补衣技艺，用于修补纺织品上的破洞和撕裂，延长其使用寿命。“拉夫加里是一种令人惊叹的传承方式。它能让你创造出传家宝。我们希望支持并传承这项技艺，”斯瓦利解释道，并补充说：“从某种意义上说，它象征着手工艺，不是吗？如果没有赞助者，这些技艺就会衰落。”

未能正确注明工匠的劳动成果可能会给品牌带来重大的公关灾难，然而，一些时尚界的大牌仍然经常被指控盗用印度的服装和工艺技术。

今年早些时候，拉夫·劳伦被指控盗用印度“班达尼”扎染工艺，将其印制在裙子上，却未注明其来源。（该品牌尚未对此批评做出公开回应，也未回复CNN的置评请求。）

与此同时，Prada在2025年因其“皮革平底凉鞋”而遭到抨击。印度观察人士指出，这款凉鞋酷似马哈拉施特拉邦的一种名为科尔哈普里凉鞋的鞋款。该品牌随后承认，这款凉鞋“确实受到了印度鞋履的启发”，并与印度西部各邦的手工艺机构合作，推出了一款限量版凉鞋。

就连一款饰有 Chanakya 镜面工艺的 Fendi Baguette 手袋，最近也因一些印度社交媒体用户认为其署名不足而遭到抨击。不过，这家意大利品牌此前已在社交媒体上公开承认了 Chanakya 工作室的贡献，并将邀请 Chanakya 的工匠前往伦敦哈罗德百货即将开设的快闪店，现场展示工艺技巧。

“文化欣赏与合作，赋予了这门手艺生命力和无限可能，”斯瓦利说道，并以迪奥2023早秋系列时装秀为例，指出这是一个转折点。“尤其重要的是，它打破了‘品牌来印度只是因为成本更低’这种固有观念，”她补充道。“我们与世界各地的高级定制品牌合作，是因为我们拥有极其丰富的工艺词汇，以及世界上最优秀的工匠。印度是唯一一个仍然拥有如此精湛技艺的地方。”

斯瓦利强调，如果合作能够以恰当的方式呈现，其影响远不止于吸引眼球或带来良好的公关效果。“重要的是要尊重一个世代传承、从事这项工作的社群——工匠一生的‘riyaz’（技艺传承）蕴含着巨大的奉献和勇气。我们需要认可并尊重一个国家独有的纺织传统。”

她补充说，当查纳基亚的工匠们在2023年参加迪奥时装秀，看到自己的作品出现在T台上时，“你无法想象这对他们的家庭和村庄意味着什么。他们意识到自己在国际舞台上的贡献。”

在许多年轻工匠正考虑彻底退出这个行业之际，这种涟漪效应或许有助于推动工艺教育的发展，而斯瓦利正努力扭转这一令人担忧的趋势。

她现在的目标是与全球大学合作，将工艺制度化，并通过她的成衣和生活方式品牌 Chorus 将该国的设计语言带给世界各地的购物者。

至于她父亲四十年前创立 Chanakya 的目标，Swali 认为它依然完整且坚定不移：即使他们的工匠从未离开过印度，他们的手工艺品也会通过他们的努力走向世界。