No rebrand, no gimmicks: Raw Mango’s London debut rewrote the script on Indian fashion

Founded in 2008 by textile designer Sanjay Garg, Raw Mango has built its reputation reworking traditional Indian textiles into modern silhouettes. Now imagine handwoven silks, heritage techniques and deep collaboration with karigars (skilled artisans) across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Varanasi. This isn't fast fashion. It's fashion with memory.

And for Autumn/Winter 2026, that memory came threaded with flowers.



The collection was titled It's Not About The Flower, and that wasn’t just poetic branding.

Instead of focusing on the flower as decoration, Garg zoomed out to the garland, an object that moves between sacred rituals, weddings, temples, markets and everyday life across South Asia. If you have ever seen jasmine strings at a ceremony or draped over a photo frame, you know the vibe.

It's intimate. It's symbolic, and it's everywhere.

Translucent black saris carried delicate chanderi mogra embroidery that felt built into the fabric, not just placed on top. Ballooned skirts were hemmed with Kanjeevaram florets that grounded the silhouette instead of overpowering it.

Bare torsos wrapped in thick ropes of jasmine. Rolled handbags shaped like garland sacks. Transparent glass footwear that made them look almost suspended.

There was gold. There was silk. There was hand embroidery. But nothing felt chaotic. The energy wasn't "look how ornate this is". It was "look how controlled this is".



Well, global fashion often compresses South Asian design into two extremes: hyper-opulent bridal energy or colourful maximalism. There's this unspoken assumption that Indian fashion must be loud to be authentic.

Raw Mango rejected that binary.

Yes, there was silk. Yes, there was gold. Yes, there was colour. But everything felt measured. Even the neon tones were controlled. Even the shine felt disciplined.

Moreover, it wasn't trying to perform 'Indianness' or trying to neutralise it either. It just was.

The show unfolded under the glass canopy of the Royal Horticultural Halls. Jasmine garlands lined the runway. Market-inspired sounds filled the space.

But here's what's interesting: the setting didn't overpower the clothes. It would have been easy to turn the moment into a spectacle, to dramatise cultural references for impact. Instead, everything felt grounded. Intentional and almost restrained.

London didn't transform Raw Mango. It simply reframed it and that's a big difference.



We are in an era where global fashion visibility often comes with pressure. There is a pressure to simplify your story, make it digestible, make it market-friendly and make it "universal".

And Raw Mango did none of that. It didn't translate itself for a Western audience and didn't over-explain it. It didn't chase virality. And ironically, that’s what made it feel contemporary.