Why Mass Fashion Copying Crafts Like Chikankari Should Concern You

Feature Image Credit: Noblewomen Playing Chess in the Zenana, gouache, attributed to the Indian artist Nevasi Lal, a court painter of Awadh, c. 1760 to 1800.

You know how common it is to find a handcrafted kurta, an ethnic motif scarf, or a block-print shirt on any big ecom platforms or any fashion store? They love to talk about heritage when the original craft is missing, and the artisan is missing too. And that is a problem.

Mass fashion loves the look of craft, and by that we mean it loves the ajrakh pattern, the chikankari embroidery, the ikat-looking print, the mirror-work vibe, and the India story. But it does not love the slow hands, the years of skill or the labour.

And obviously, it does not care about the local community, fair wages, or the name of the person who actually keeps that craft alive.

Take chikankari, for example. Many people casually call anything white and embroidered Lucknowi. But is chikankari just a pretty white kurta? No!

It is a hand-embroidery tradition connected to Lucknow, and today, authentic handcrafted chikankari faces pressure from cheaper mass-produced versions that imitate the look without supporting the insane level of handwork.

It is not at all fair that a craft with over 400 years of history is now being copied by machines and sold as cheap fashion. These factory-made clothes may look similar, but they are made much faster and sold for much lower prices. Because of that, genuine artisans who spend years learning and doing this work struggle to earn a fair living.

So when a machine-made kurta copies the visual style and sells it as some random chikankari, the customer may think they are buying an original and might not even be aware of what this dupe selling might cost the actual craft.

Fashion loves to say things like Indian heritage or celebrating traditional craft because it sounds beautiful, and that sells beautifully too (because that's where the profit is)

A recent study reported that around 1.1 crore workers in India’s handicraft and handloom sector earn below minimum wage, despite the sector being a major part of manufacturing employment. 

A fast fashion brand making a digital print that looks vaguely like ajrakh may be pretty, may be affordable, and may even look good in photos. But it is just not the same thing, nowhere close to artisan-made.

This is not fair to a hard working artisan whose only job is to make a living and continue some of our traditional garment-making processes.

If fashion continues to profit from the language of heritage, leaving artisans invisible, then one day the actual craft may survive only in books and museums. 

Know where you buy your clothes from, read the label carefully, and try to find the artisans or craft communities behind the work, because their stories and labour are what keep the craft alive.