Raw Mango defies ‘Bling’ stereotypes with London Fashion Week debut
28 February 2026, Mumbai
At a time when the Indian luxury fashion market is projected to surpass $15 billion by late 2026, Raw Mango is fundamentally shifting the global narrative on South Asian design. On February 23, 2026, the label made its official debut at London Fashion Week with the Fall/Winter 2026 collection, ‘It’s Not About The Flower.’ By moving away from the ‘maximalist bling’ typically expected of Indian couture, founder Sanjay Garg presented a sophisticated interrogation of the garland - a symbol of plurality and everyday ritual in the subcontinent.
Reimagining adornment through technical weaves
The collection serves as a strategic counter-narrative to the idea that Indian luxury is defined solely by labor-intensive embroidery. Instead, Raw Mango highlighted design intellect through experimental textiles, including hand-rolled silk elements and sculptural forms engineered into Kanjivaram brocades, ribbed cotton knits, and hand-felted wool. Indian fashion is too often quantified by the hours it took a weaver to create it, Garg noted, emphasizing that the brand’s value lies in its innate aesthetic vocabulary rather than surface-level excess.
Capturing the global ‘Affluent India’ diaspora
The showcase, supported by the De Beers Group, underscores a broader commercial pivot toward a global audience. With India now contributing nearly 30 per cent of new global middle-class consumers, homegrown luxury brands are seeing a surge in international relevance. Raw Mango’s expansion into the UK market - facilitated by the British Fashion Council - capitalizes on this momentum. High-profile attendees, including Akshata Murty and Anoushka Shankar, signaled the brand's successful integration into the cosmopolitan "global dialogue" that the BFC is currently championing.
Leveraging provenance as a competitive moat
The 2026 strategy reflects a deeper commitment to provenance-led luxury, a segment growing at a 10 per cent annual clip. By collaborating with karigars (artisans) across Varanasi and West Bengal, Raw Mango ensures that its contemporary silhouettes remain tethered to authentic heritage. This approach allows the brand to bypass the ‘fast fashion’ cycle, offering instead a sustainable, slow-fashion alternative that resonates with the EU’s increasingly stringent ESG mandates and the evolving tastes of the worldwide South Asian diaspora.
Founded in 2008 by Sanjay Garg, Raw Mango is a premier design house specializing in contemporary handloom textiles. The firm reported Rs 101 crore in revenue for FY25, achieving an 84 per cent growth. With new flagships in Kolkata and London-centric showcases, Raw Mango is scaling its presence across global fashion capitals through high-value, craft-driven narratives.
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