The History of Clothing

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Modern · South Asia · 1900 - Present

Modern South Asian Clothing

From Gandhi's deliberate embrace of homespun cloth to the global runway success of South Asian designers, modern clothing in the subcontinent weaves together politics, tradition, and reinvention.

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By Dan Schnau · Last updated

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Independence, Identity, and the Politics of Cloth

Mahatma Gandhi, bare-chested and wearing a dhoti, seated on the ground spinning thread at a charkha
Gandhi spinning, late 1940s. Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

Clothing became a powerful political tool during South Asia's independence movements. Mahatma Gandhi's promotion of khadi — hand-spun, hand-woven cloth — transformed a simple textile into a symbol of resistance against British colonial rule and its industrial imports.1,2 The charkha (spinning wheel) became an emblem of Indian nationhood, and wearing khadi signaled solidarity with the independence cause.1 After independence in 1947, the need to create a national identity shaped what Indians wore.11

Woman seen from behind in a turquoise sari draped in the Maharashtrian way, passed between the legs and tucked at the back like a dhoti, with its end drawn up over her head
A woman in a Maharashtrian sari, fishermen's village, Mumbai, 2005. Photo: Wen-Yan King. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

In India, the long achkan habitually worn by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru became the model for the Nehru jacket (a hip-length, mandarin-collared coat), a distinctly Indian style of menswear,3,4 while women continued to wear the sari in its remarkable regional diversity — from the nine-yard Maharashtrian Marathamoli drape, its centre pleat brought between the legs and tucked in at the back, to the light, fine-textured Bengali tant in cotton.5,10 Pakistan developed its own sartorial identity around the shalwar kameez, which became standard dress for both men and women,6,7 while Sri Lanka's national dress incorporated the osariya style of sari draping alongside influences from colonial-era fashion.8,9

Schoolgirls in blue kameez tunics, loose white shalwar trousers, and white headscarves running out of a school building, with a man in a cream shalwar kameez behind them
Schoolgirls in shalwar kameez school uniforms, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Photo: Vicki Francis/Department for International Development. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

For the sari's place in the Swadeshi campaign and after, see the history of the sari.

Bollywood, Designer Fashion, and the Global Diaspora

Models on a runway in Sabyasachi couture: a woman in a long embroidered coat over a flared skirt, and two men in patterned bandhgala jackets and turbans
Sabyasachi couture at the Lakme Fashion Week grand finale, 2013. Photo: Sourendra Kumar Das (Sou Boyy). Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Indian film industry, centered in Mumbai's Bollywood, became an important influence on South Asian fashion from the mid-twentieth century onward.11,18 Film costumes set national trends: the lehenga choli (skirt and blouse sets) and saris worn by film heroines shaped bridal fashion for decades,12 while leading men's screen wardrobes, from Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra's denim in Sholay (1975) to Shah Rukh Khan's leather jacket in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), shaped everyday style.18 Bollywood's influence reaches South Asians everywhere, with fans around the world copying the looks of its heroines.18

The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries brought a flourishing of South Asian designer fashion.13 Designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, and Tarun Tahiliani reimagined traditional garments with contemporary cuts, luxury fabrics, and global sensibilities.13,14 The anarkali suit experienced a major revival, and designers' experiments with drape, such as Tahiliani's corseted saris, kept the sari fashionable for modern wearers.17,14 Meanwhile, the Odisha-born, New York-based designer Bibhu Mohapatra described his work as balancing East and West,15 and the Pakistani label Sana Safinaz set trends with luxury prêt, bridal wear, and lawn prints, the last worn as far afield as India, London, and the Middle East.16 Many young people of the elite wear Western dress and jeans but turn to their own local dress for special occasions, a mix that honors heritage while embracing global fashion.11

Actress on a runway in a floor-length white anarkali with a flared, gathered skirt, a broad orange and gold embroidered hem, and a matching dupatta
Priyanka Chopra walks for Manish Malhotra and Shaina NC's show for CPAA, 2012. Photo: Bollywood Hungama. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Sources

  1. Gandhi Quotes on Khadi — mkgandhi.org (Gandhi on khadi and the charkha as the symbol of "the nation's prosperity and therefore freedom").
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  2. Made in India: Indian Textiles, Global Markets — Kent State University Museum, 2010 (hand-woven cotton as "the symbol of national resistance").Reference 1
  3. Soft power: A short history of the iconic Nehru jacket — MAP Academy, via ThePrint, 2024.Reference 1
  4. Suit (Nehru jacket), Moss Bros, 1969 — Victoria and Albert Museum (Nehru's achkan and bundi as the jacket's model).Reference 1
  5. No. 58 Marathamoli Drape - Maharashtra, India — Border&Fall, The Sari Series: An Anthology of Drape (sari advisor Rta Kapur Chishti), Google Arts & Culture, 2017 (a nine-yard Maharashtrian drape with the centre pleats brought between the legs and tucked in at the back).Reference 1
  6. The Spread of the Salwar — Ramachandra Guha, The Hindu, 2004 (salwar replacing the sari in Pakistani public life).Reference 1
  7. Washington – Culture — Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan ("Shalwar-Kameez is the national dress of Pakistan and is worn by both men and women across the country").Reference 1
  8. Feel Regal in an Osariya — Time Out Sri Lanka, 2016.Reference 1
  9. On Postcolonial Sartorial Trends: Civilizing Serendib by Anoli Perera — Pramodha Weerasekera, ASAP Art, 2022 (Kandyan sari, nationalism, and Victorian modesty).Reference 1
  10. Magic of Bengal Handlooms — Banglanatak, Google Arts & Culture (Shantipur tant as the oldest variety of Bengal cotton textile, prized for lightness and fine texture).Reference 1
  11. Asia, South: History of Dress — Jasleen Dhamija, Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, via Encyclopedia.com (Bollywood films and women's magazines as "an important influence" on women's dress; young designers setting new trends).
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  12. How Bollywood's Cinematic Glamour Shaped Wedding Trends Across Generations — Ishika Paruthi, Khush Wedding, 2025 (bridal looks from Umrao Jaan, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Devdas, and later films).Reference 1
  13. The characteristics of contemporary Indian fashion designs using traditional handicraft: Focusing on Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, and Ritu Kumar — Maurya Anudhairya Ramnath and Se Jin Kim, The Research Journal of the Costume Culture 32/2, 2024.
    Return to text (2 references)Reference 1 Reference 2
  14. Tarun Tahiliani: Journey to India Modern review: The designer who made dhotis, saris fashionable — The Federal, 2024.
    Return to text (2 references)Reference 1 Reference 2
  15. Bibhu Mohapatra on his Roots & His American Dream — Emilyn Edillon, Council of Fashion Designers of America, 2020.Reference 1
  16. In Conversation with the LSAs' Hat-trick Queens — Maliha Rehman, Dawn, 2015 (Sana Safinaz).Reference 1
  17. History to digital spaces: The eternal charm of Anarkali — Tahmina Pria, The Financial Express (Bangladesh), 2025 (Mughal-e-Azam reviving the anarkali; its 21st-century popularity).Reference 1
  18. How Bollywood Fashion Went From DIY to Designer — Nidhi Gupta, The Juggernaut, 2022 (Bollywood "has influenced the way South Asians everywhere dress for generations").
    Return to text (3 references)Reference 1 Reference 2 Reference 3