Indian craftsmanship has influenced global fashion for generations. When international luxury brands use traditional Indian techniques, designs or cultural heritage, the communities who preserved them should receive meaningful recognition and a fair share of the value created.

We are calling for clear Indian laws and guidelines requiring attribution, transparency and fair benefit-sharing when India’s traditional crafts are commercially used by global brands.

Why this matters

India’s crafts are living heritage -preserved by generations of artisans whose knowledge, techniques and traditions have survived for centuries.

From Kolhapuri chappals to Gujarat’s mirror embroidery, Indian craftsmanship continues to inspire the global fashion industry.

Recent controversies involving international luxury houses have raised an important question:

When a global luxury product draws substantially from an Indian traditional craft, who gets recognised ? and who benefits?

This is not about stopping international brands from collaborating with India.

It is about making sure that collaboration is fair, transparent and respectful.

A luxury product carrying an enormous price tag should not make the people and traditions behind its inspiration invisible.

We are asking the Government of India to act.

We call for a clear national framework that:

• Requires meaningful attribution of Indian crafts, techniques, regions and artisan communities used in commercial products.
• Strengthens protection for GI-registered crafts and traditional cultural expressions
• Creates transparent licensing and consent mechanisms where legally applicable.
• Encourages fair benefit-sharing when commercial products substantially rely on community-held traditional knowledge or craftsmanship.
• Ensures artisans and craft communities receive visible recognition, rather than remaining anonymous behind global luxury labels.
• Provides accessible mechanisms for artisan communities to challenge unauthorised or misleading commercial use of their heritage.
• Encourages genuine partnerships between luxury brands and Indian artisans, rather than simply extracting designs or techniques from traditional communities.
  We are not against luxury fashion.

We are not against Indian craftsmanship being celebrated internationally.

In fact, we want Indian craftsmanship on the world’s biggest stages.

But when it reaches those stages, its origin, makers and cultural history should reach them too.

India’s artisans have spent generations protecting these traditions.

Now it is time to protect their recognition, rights and participation in the value their heritage creates.

✊ Sign this petition

If you believe Indian craftsmanship deserves recognition wherever it is commercially used, sign and share this petition.

Let’s make sure that when the world wears Indian heritage, the world knows where it came from and who kept it alive.