World’s top luxury brands do embroidery in India:Christian Dior, Gucci, Prada are clients of Chanakya International

More than 30 of the world’s top luxury brands like Christian Dior, Prada, Gucci have their clothes embroidered in India. These renowned brands get their special embroidery done from ‘Chanakya International’ in Mumbai. The artisans here are preserving a 5,000-year-old heritage through hand embroidery. Chanakya International was started by Vinod Shah from Gujarat in 1984. Its purpose was to give worldwide recognition to the collective craftsmanship on Indian fabrics. Indian embroidery is in highest demand for the world’s most expensive designer and ready-made clothes. Its quality is unmatched. This skill has disappeared in Western countries. India has been exporting textiles to the world for centuries. Even in the 16th and 17th centuries, muslin, silk, and embroidered fabrics were sent from India to many countries including France. This ancient heritage continues to modernize Indian art even today. Karishma Swali, 49-year-old daughter of Vinod Shah, has been the Managing and Creative Director of Chanakya for the past 30 years. Karishma leads 2,400 artisans here. When she first visited her father’s workshop as a child, seeing the collective work made her realize that working together produces results more beautiful than expected. During the Dior Fall 2023 show, Chanakya International was given the responsibility of creating a large textile artwork. In this, 1,008 masters and women together created a massive traditional torana, which is used for welcoming guests in homes. Karishma has recently exhibited Chanakya’s artworks at the Venice Biennale and the Vatican Library in Rome. Karishma believes that the greatest strength of this art is that AI can never replace this handcrafted skill. Skill – Teaching Embroidery to the New Generation, AI Cannot Replace Human Art Karishma has opened the ‘Chanakya School of Craft’ for the new generation. The biggest challenge was not creating the curriculum, but getting students to come. Karishma herself went door-to-door in poor settlements to convince women to learn skills for free. At that time, only 22 women came amid skepticism, accompanied by their husbands and mothers-in-law who would sit outside and wait. Today, 10 years later, the school has 1,400 women and a long waiting list.