Phyllida Jay

"It’s a fascinating journey, and with pages featuring brilliant images of rubies, emeralds, and Jaipur enamel work, it’s a true feast for the eyes." — Natural Diamonds Inspired by India is an exploration of more than six centuries of trade, cultural exchange, and inspiration between India and the West. Through the lens of various material categories, including textiles, fashion, jewellery, and perfume, marvellous stories unfold surrounding the histories of objects and the complex networks of cultural exchange they represent. The book explores how some of the most legendary design houses have looked to Indian culture, decorative arts and artisanal crafts for inspiration. Indian-inspired objects from luxury houses including Hermès, Chanel, Cartier, and Dior are featured, revealing creative and fascinating stories of inspiration and creativity. The stunning Inspired by India also includes rich visual imagery from leading museum and gallery archives, as well as the archives of the world’s greatest luxury houses and renowned fashion designers, including Dries Van Noten, Alexander McQueen, and John Galliano.

Historically known as the symbol of economic and political freedom at the heart of Mahatma Gandhi’s struggle for Indian independence, the hand-woven and hand-spun khadi cloth has been reinvented as a global luxury textile in contemporary Indian high fashion. This is the first book to address the thriving fashion industry that surrounds khadi in India, alongside the legacy of Gandhian thought in the postcolonial era, exploring how the textile has evolved from national cloth to high fashion fabric. Based on extensive ethnographic research, including interviews with designers, consumers and NGO advocates, Jay questions the relationship between the material and the social that continues to frame the production and consumption of khadi. How does khadi’s symbolism as a 'moral' cloth change against a backdrop of conspicuous consumption and display? What happens to its potential to address issues of inequality and nationhood as it moves into the realms of ready-to-wear couture and heritage luxury? Caught between its historical symbolism and emergence in luxury fashion, khadi crystallizes broader questions about the role of non-western fashion in modernity, artisanal craft, ethical and sustainable fashion, and social relationships mediated through the materiality of cloth. Weaving together the complete history of khadi for the first time, Indian Khadi Cloth will appeal to students and scholars of textiles, fashion, anthropology and luxury.