Houses / India
Indian fashion designers to know
Indian fashion runs from the bridal and couture houses (Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, Tarun Tahiliani, Anamika Khanna, Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla) and the names on the Paris haute couture calendar (Rahul Mishra, Gaurav Gupta) to labels led by craft and textiles: péro, Raw Mango, Bodice, Anita Dongre and Amit Aggarwal. Each profile lists what the label makes and dated milestones, every one with its source.
How this guide works
What counts, and what we leave out
This is an introduction, not a ranking. We chose twelve labels that between them cover India’s bridal and couture houses, the Indian houses that show haute couture in Paris, and labels led by handloom, craft and textiles, and that have a public record we could check. Labels whose recent work we could not date from a source are left out, and founding years appear only where a source states one.
Paris facts come from the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode’s eight official haute couture calendars from January 2023 to July 2026, which we read ourselves: Rahul Mishra is on all eight; Gaurav Gupta on January and July 2023 and January 2024, 2025 and 2026; and Manish Malhotra on July 2026 only. Indian runway facts come from Hyundai and the Fashion Design Council of India’s announcement of India Couture Week 2026 and from the announced line-up of Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI’s October 2026 edition, and New York facts from the CFDA’s preliminary September 2026 schedule. Company facts come from the labels’ own sites, Reliance’s media releases and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail’s stock-exchange filing, and prize facts from the International Woolmark Prize. Where sources disagree on a date, the profile says so.
Facts were checked on 22 October 2026. If you represent one of these labels and see something out of date, send us a correction.
At a glance
The labels at a glance
| Label | Designer | Since | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sabyasachi | Sabyasachi Mukherjee | 1999 | Couture and eveningwear: bridal couture and high jewellery that put Indian heritage crafts at the centre |
| Manish Malhotra | Manish Malhotra | 2005 | Couture and eveningwear: glamorous bridal and occasion couture, shaped by a long career dressing Hindi cinema |
| Tarun Tahiliani | Tarun Tahiliani | 1995 | Couture and eveningwear: an “India Modern” look that sets Indian craft and drape inside structured, contemporary shapes |
| Anamika Khanna | Anamika Khanna | — | Couture and eveningwear: heavily embellished couture, plus AK-OK, a younger line designed to be age- and gender-agnostic |
| Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla | Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla | — | Couture and eveningwear: maximalist bridal couture and hand embroidery such as chikankari and zardozi |
| Rahul Mishra | Rahul Mishra | 2009 | Couture and eveningwear: slow, hand-embroidered and hand-woven couture made with Indian artisans |
| Gaurav Gupta | Gaurav Gupta | 2005 | Couture and eveningwear: sculptural couture that joins Indian embellishment to surreal, futuristic shapes |
| péro | Aneeth Arora | — | Ready-to-wear: playful clothes built on handcrafted Indian textiles, including collaborations with Hello Kitty and Barbie |
| Raw Mango | Sanjay Garg | 2008 | Textile heritage: handloom saris and garments that rework techniques from India’s weaving centres |
| Bodice | Ruchika Sachdeva | — | Slow and sustainable: considered womenswear that pairs Indian hand weaving and natural dyes with modern cuts |
| Anita Dongre | Anita Dongre | — | Ready-to-wear: occasion wear rooted in Rajasthani craft, and Grassroot, a line built on village artisans’ work |
| Amit Aggarwal | Amit Aggarwal | 2012 | Couture and eveningwear: sculptural couture made with polymers, cording and other unexpected materials |
Profiles
Who they are and what they make.
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Couture and eveningwear · Kolkata
Sabyasachi
Sabyasachi Mukherjee
Photo: Bollywood Hungama, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Sabyasachi Mukherjee graduated from NIFT Kolkata in 1999 and started his label six months later with a team of three, the house records. He first showed at Lakmé Fashion Week in 2002, launched his first bridal collection there in 2007 and opened his first store, in Calcutta, in 2009; jewellery followed in 2017. Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail acquired 51% of the business in 2021. The house opened its first international flagship, in New York, in 2022 and its largest store, in a neo-classical building in Mumbai’s heritage district, in 2023. It marked 25 years with a show at Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre on 25 January 2025, and that May dressed Shah Rukh Khan for his Met Gala debut. On 15 September 2026, the final day of New York Fashion Week, Sabyasachi showed Spring/Summer 2027 at Spring Studios, listed by the CFDA as new to the official schedule, and launched a multi-year high-jewellery collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Since
- 1999
- Makes
- Bridal and evening couture, menswear, ready-to-wear, accessories and high jewellery
- Trained
- National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Kolkata, graduating in 1999
- 1999 Sabyasachi Mukherjee launches his label, months after graduating from NIFT. Source ↗
- 2002 Debuts at Lakmé Fashion Week with the collection “Kashgaar Bazaar”. Source ↗
- 2021 Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail acquires 51% of the business. Source ↗
- 2022 Opens its first international flagship store, in New York. Source ↗
- 25 January 2025 Stages its 25th-anniversary show at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. Source ↗
- 5 May 2025 Dresses Shah Rukh Khan for his Met Gala debut in New York. Source ↗
- 15 September 2026 Shows Spring/Summer 2027, “Bengal Byzantine Broadway”, at Spring Studios on the last day of New York Fashion Week. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · Mumbai
Manish Malhotra
Photo: Laura Lee Dooley from Arlington, VA, USA, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Manish Malhotra came to fashion through cinema: when Reliance Brands invested in 2021, it counted 31 years of his work as a costume stylist for Hindi films and described him as a self-taught designer. He founded his house in 2005, and the release credits him with bringing celebrity showstoppers to Indian runways. In October 2021 Reliance Brands agreed to take a 40% minority stake, the label’s first outside investment; it then had four flagship stores in Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad. At the Met Gala in May 2025 he dressed Natasha Poonawalla in a sculpted look with Parsi gara embroidery and walked the carpet in his own design. On 8 July 2026 he showed in Paris as a guest house on the official haute couture calendar, the first time the label appears on the eight couture calendars we read from January 2023, and Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI announced a Manish Malhotra Luxury Pret show for its October 2026 New Delhi edition, his return to the week after three years.
- Since
- 2005
- Makes
- Couture, bridal wear and Luxury Pret
- Trained
- Self-taught; costume stylist for Hindi films before founding his label
- 2005 Manish Malhotra founds his label. Source ↗
- 15 October 2021 Reliance Brands signs an agreement to take a 40% minority stake, the label’s first outside investment. Source ↗
- 5 May 2025 Dresses Natasha Poonawalla for the Met Gala and walks the carpet in his own design. Source ↗
- 8 July 2026 Shows Fall/Winter 2026–27 haute couture in Paris as a guest house on the official calendar. Source ↗
- October 2026 Is named on the line-up of Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI in New Delhi with a Luxury Pret festive show, his first at the week in three years. Source ↗
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Tarun Tahiliani took a business management degree at the Wharton School before returning to India, where in December 1987 he opened Ensemble in Mumbai, which his site calls the country’s first multi-designer boutique. He founded the Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio in 1995, and in January 2017 opened a flagship at Qutab Garden in Mehrauli, New Delhi. On 24 February 2021 Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail’s board approved buying 33.5% of his couture business and 80% of a new company set up to launch a premium ethnic-wear brand with him, its stock-exchange filing shows. He was on the line-up of the 19th India Couture Week at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, in July 2026, and among the primetime shows announced for Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI there in October.
- Since
- 1995
- Makes
- Couture, occasion wear and ready-to-wear for women and men, with accessories and jewellery
- Trained
- Business management degree, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- December 1987 Opens Ensemble, a multi-designer boutique, in Mumbai. Source ↗
- 1995 Founds the Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio. Source ↗
- January 2017 Opens his flagship at Qutab Garden in Mehrauli, New Delhi. Source ↗
- 24 February 2021 Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail approves taking 33.5% of the couture business and 80% of a new ethnic-wear venture. Source ↗
- July 2026 Is on the line-up of the 19th India Couture Week at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. Source ↗
- October 2026 Is named among the primetime shows of Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI in New Delhi. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · Kolkata
Anamika Khanna
Anamika Khanna has boutiques in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, and her site’s show archive lists the Lakmé Fashion Week grand finale in 2015 and 2018 and India Couture Week seasons from 2016 to 2023. In December 2021 Reliance Brands agreed a 60:40 joint venture with her to own and develop AK-OK, a label built on an age- and gender-agnostic approach, with Khanna staying on as its creative director. At the Met Gala in May 2025 Isha Ambani wore a heavily embroidered Anamika Khanna look that took more than two years to make, The National reported. On 23 July 2026 she opened the 19th India Couture Week at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, the platform’s first presentation outside Delhi.
- Makes
- Couture under her own name; AK-OK ready-to-wear
- 2015 Presents the Lakmé Fashion Week grand finale, according to the label’s show archive. Source ↗
- 20 December 2021 Agrees a 60:40 joint venture with Reliance Brands to own and develop AK-OK. Source ↗
- 5 May 2025 Dresses Isha Ambani for the Met Gala. Source ↗
- 23 July 2026 Opens the 19th India Couture Week at the Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · Mumbai
Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla design as a duo from Mumbai. Their site describes two years of research in the early 1990s to bring chikankari to fabrics such as chiffon and crepe de chine; the work is still hand-embroidered in Lucknow by women artisans, alongside zardozi in gold and silver thread. Their costumes for the film Devdas won India’s National Film Award for Best Costume Design. Sotheby’s marked their 25th year with the exhibition “India Fantastique” in London in September 2012. In 2026 the house celebrated four decades: in August it opened Mubarak Baug, a 20,000 sq ft flagship in the Framjee Cawasjee Institute in south Mumbai with a museum of archive pieces, and in September it held its 40th-anniversary celebration there and launched Iconic Jewels, its first jewellery collection.
- Makes
- Couture, bridal wear, ready-to-wear and, since 2026, fine jewellery
- September 2012 Sotheby’s in London stages “India Fantastique” to mark the duo’s 25th year. Source ↗
- August 2026 Opens Mubarak Baug, a 20,000 sq ft flagship in south Mumbai, to mark 40 years. Source ↗
- September 2026 Celebrates its 40th anniversary at Mubarak Baug and launches Iconic Jewels, its first jewellery collection. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · New Delhi
Rahul Mishra
Rahul Mishra, who grew up in a village near Kanpur, studied apparel design at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and won a 2007 scholarship to Istituto Marangoni in Milan; the Fédération dates his label to 2009. He won the 2013/14 International Woolmark Prize, the first Indian designer to take its global final, held in Milan. In January 2020 he became the first Indian designer invited onto the Paris haute couture calendar, as a guest member. The label says its slow hand weaving and embroidery support more than 1,000 artisans; it has six stores in India, and its AFEW Rahul Mishra prêt line also sells at selected Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the US. France made him a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in November 2023. He showed on all eight official Paris couture calendars from January 2023 to July 2026, each time on the opening Monday, and was on the India Couture Week line-up in New Delhi in July 2026.
- Since
- 2009
- Makes
- Haute couture shown in Paris, plus the AFEW Rahul Mishra prêt-à-porter line
- Trained
- Apparel design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad; master’s in womenswear, Istituto Marangoni, Milan
- 2009 The Rahul Mishra label is founded, according to the Fédération. Source ↗
- 2014 Wins the International Woolmark Prize at the 2013/14 global final in Milan. Source ↗
- January 2020 Shows in Paris as the first Indian designer invited onto the haute couture calendar as a guest member. Source ↗
- November 2023 Is made a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. Source ↗
- 6 July 2026 Shows Fall/Winter 2026–27 couture on the official Paris calendar. Source ↗
- July 2026 Is on the line-up of the 19th India Couture Week at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. Source ↗
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Couture and eveningwear · New Delhi
Gaurav Gupta
Photo: Sholeen Damarwala, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gaurav Gupta set up his label with his brother, Saurabh Gupta, after graduating from Central Saint Martins. The label’s own site gives 2005; the Fédération’s house page gives both 2004 and 2006. The Fédération describes work that combines Indian construction and embellishment with surrealism and a vision of the future. Invited by the Fédération, he showed on the Paris haute couture calendar in January and July 2023, and again in January 2024, 2025 and 2026; he was not on the July calendars for 2024, 2025 or 2026. At the Met Gala in May 2025 Kiara Advani wore his black gown with a golden breastplate. The label has five boutiques in India, in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, and since October 2026 a boutique in Paris, at 6 rue Jean Goujon.
- Since
- 2005
- Makes
- Haute couture, bridal and evening wear, menswear and festive collections
- Trained
- Central Saint Martins, London
- 2005 Gaurav Gupta and his brother Saurabh Gupta found the label, according to the label. Source ↗
- 26 January 2023 Shows Spring/Summer 2023 couture on the official Paris calendar. Source ↗
- 5 May 2025 Dresses Kiara Advani for the Met Gala. Source ↗
- 27 January 2026 Shows Spring/Summer 2026 couture on the official Paris calendar. Source ↗
- October 2026 Opens a boutique in Paris, at 6 rue Jean Goujon. Source ↗
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Ready-to-wear · New Delhi
péro
Aneeth Arora
Aneeth Arora’s label péro builds its collections on handcrafted textiles from across India. Its Spring/Summer 2025 collection with Hello Kitty, released in October 2024 for the character’s 50th anniversary, also marked péro’s fifteenth year; the brands called the mix of Calcutta cottagecore and Harajuku street style “Cottagecore Kawaii”. In November 2025 it launched péro is home, quilts, curtains and dolls drawn from archive textiles and five years in the making, at the AD Design Show in Mumbai. péro closed Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI with its Fall/Winter 2026 collection on 22 March 2026 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, and opened the week’s October 2026 edition at the Taj Palace in New Delhi with “Dream Dress-Up”, a Spring/Summer 2027 collaboration with Barbie that also introduced péro Intimates.
- Makes
- Womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, accessories, péro Intimates and the péro is home line
- October 2024 Releases a Spring/Summer 2025 collection with Hello Kitty, marking péro’s fifteenth year and the character’s 50th. Source ↗
- 21 November 2025 Launches péro is home, its home line, at the AD Design Show in Mumbai. Source ↗
- 22 March 2026 Closes Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI in Mumbai with its Fall/Winter 2026 collection. Source ↗
- October 2026 Opens Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI in New Delhi with “Dream Dress-Up”, a Spring/Summer 2027 collaboration with Barbie. Source ↗
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Textile heritage · New Delhi
Raw Mango
Sanjay Garg
Sanjay Garg, a self-described “fashion outsider” who prefers the title textile designer, trained in textile design at NIFT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design in Jaipur. Raw Mango began working with handloom in 2008, making saris, garments and objects with weavers in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Varanasi, and has stores in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Alongside the clothes, the label runs exhibitions, talks and dinners, including appearances at India Art Fair. On 23 February 2026 it made its London Fashion Week debut with “It’s Not About The Flower”, a Fall/Winter 2026 collection built around the South Asian flower garland and presented with De Beers Group’s Forevermark jewellery.
- Since
- 2008
- Makes
- Saris, garments and objects in handloom
- Trained
- Textile design, NIFT Delhi and the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design, Jaipur
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Slow and sustainable · New Delhi
Bodice
Ruchika Sachdeva
Ruchika Sachdeva graduated in womenswear from the London College of Fashion in 2010 and went on to found Bodice, which she runs in India. Her collection for the 2017/18 International Woolmark Prize, which won the womenswear award in Florence in January 2018, set Australian merino against hand weaving, kantha embroidery, plant dyes from Sawantwadi and buttons of coconut shell, seashell and wood; her college reports a prize of AU$200,000. In March 2025 Bodice showed its Spring/Summer 2025 collection in New Delhi, made with Bemberg, a regenerated cellulose fibre from Asahi Kasei.
- Makes
- Womenswear
- Trained
- BA (Hons) Fashion Design Technology: Womenswear, London College of Fashion (2010)
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Anita Dongre’s house is rooted in Rajasthan and says it works with thousands of craftspeople in handloom weaving, embroidery and block printing. Alongside her own label it runs AND, for westernwear, and the more affordable Global Desi, while Grassroot uses ethical cottons and linens to carry village artisans’ crafts. In May 2018 she opened a three-floor flagship on West Broadway in SoHo, New York, with Grassroot on the ground floor. On 1 November 2025 she opened a 3,000 sq ft flagship at Gardenhouse Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, its walls hand-painted in the pichhwai style by Rajasthani artisans; it is her fourth international store, after New York and Dubai, and the house’s 13th worldwide.
- Makes
- Couture and occasion wear, ready-to-wear, the Grassroot line, jewellery and vegan accessories
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Couture and eveningwear · New Delhi
Amit Aggarwal
Amit Aggarwal founded his label in 2012. Its range runs from Indian couture to luxury prêt and bespoke pieces, among them three-dimensional lehengas, sari-gowns and tuxedos, and its artisans work with materials as different as polymers and liquid organza; reviewers also point to signature cording and weaving, sculptural forms and upcycled vintage textiles. AM:IT, his prêt label, carries that approach into more wearable clothes. In October 2026 AM:IT closed Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI in New Delhi with “On a Day Like Today”, a collection about the move from workday to evening that put pleated hats, woven bags and an auto rickshaw on the runway, with the actor Aneet Padda as showstopper.
- Since
- 2012
- Makes
- Indian couture, luxury prêt and bespoke pieces, plus the AM:IT prêt label
In person
Where to see Indian design in person
India’s two main stages are run with the Fashion Design Council of India. Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI showed at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai from 19 to 22 March 2026, closing with péro, and its Delhi edition ran 13–18 October 2026 at the Taj Palace, opened by péro and closed by AM:IT. India Couture Week 2026 opened with Anamika Khanna at the Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad on 23 July and continued at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, from 24 to 29 July, with Tarun Tahiliani and Rahul Mishra on the line-up.
Abroad, Rahul Mishra has shown at Paris Haute Couture Week every January and July since at least 2023; Gaurav Gupta showed there in January 2026 and Manish Malhotra in July 2026. Sabyasachi showed at New York Fashion Week in September 2026, and our Sabyasachi house page tracks its runway casting. Asia’s fashion weeks and the fashion week calendar have the dates.
Most of these labels run their own stores in India, and several sell abroad: Sabyasachi in New York, Anita Dongre in New York and Beverly Hills, and Gaurav Gupta in Paris. For the wider market, see our India desk; for Indian textiles and dress, the India style guides; and for agencies and how to apply as a model in India, the India modelling guide.
More designer guides: South Korean fashion designers to know · Indonesian fashion designers to know · Malaysian fashion designers to know · Thai fashion designers to know · Vietnamese fashion designers to know · Japanese fashion designers to know · Mexican fashion designers to know · Brazilian fashion designers to know · Chinese fashion designers to know · Nigerian fashion designers to know
Sources
Sources
Each milestone above links its own source. These are every page we relied on, checked on the date shown.
Represent one of these labels and spotted an error? Send a correction with a link to the record.
Quick answers
Indian designers, answered
Which Indian designers show at Paris Haute Couture Week?
- On the eight official Paris haute couture calendars from January 2023 to July 2026, Rahul Mishra showed every season, each time on the opening Monday; Gaurav Gupta showed in January and July 2023 and in January 2024, 2025 and 2026; and Manish Malhotra joined as a guest house on 8 July 2026. Rahul Mishra was the first Indian designer invited onto the haute couture calendar, in January 2020.
Which Indian designers dressed guests at the 2025 Met Gala?
- At the Met Gala on 5 May 2025, Sabyasachi dressed Shah Rukh Khan for his debut; Anamika Khanna dressed Isha Ambani in a look that took more than two years to make; Manish Malhotra dressed Natasha Poonawalla and walked in his own design; and Gaurav Gupta dressed Kiara Advani in a black gown with a golden breastplate, The National reported.
Which Indian designers have won the International Woolmark Prize?
- Rahul Mishra won the 2013/14 prize at the global final in Milan, the first Indian designer to do so. Suket Dhir won the menswear award in 2015/16, and Ruchika Sachdeva of Bodice won the womenswear award of the 2017/18 prize, presented in Florence in January 2018.
Which Indian fashion houses have large company investors?
- Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail acquired 51% of Sabyasachi in 2021, and in February 2021 its board approved taking 33.5% of Tarun Tahiliani’s couture business. Reliance Brands agreed in October 2021 to take a 40% minority stake in Manish Malhotra’s label, and in December 2021 a 60:40 joint venture with Anamika Khanna for AK-OK.
Where can I see Indian designers on the runway in India?
- Lakmé Fashion Week x FDCI ran twice in 2026: at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai from 19 to 22 March, and at the Taj Palace in New Delhi from 13 to 18 October. India Couture Week 2026, run by the FDCI with Hyundai, opened in Hyderabad on 23 July and continued at the Taj Palace, New Delhi, from 24 to 29 July.