As conversations around conscious consumption, cultural preservation, and slow fashion grow, this story taps into the increasing desire for fashion that tells a story and supports real people, not just trends.
Why Craft-Led Fashion Is More Than a Trend
Handmade isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about resisting mass production, celebrating heritage, and wearing your values. As we witness a growing revival of India’s textile and artisanal traditions, a new wave of craft-focused brands is stepping into the spotlight. These are labels that go beyond just aesthetics by championing community, time-honoured techniques, and a slower, more meaningful way of making.
Here are 11 brands to know if you’re looking to invest in clothing and accessories made with heart and hand:
1. Iro Iro
Craft Focus: Zero-waste handwoven textiles made from post-consumer and industrial waste
Image Source: Instagram/iroirozerowaste
Iro Iro, founded by Bhaavya Goenka, is a system designed to close the loop. The brand transforms textile waste into gender-fluid, minimal silhouettes using traditional Indian craft techniques like weaving and zero-waste pattern cutting. Every piece is a design solution, made from fabric scraps sourced from hotels, fashion brands, and factories.
With more than five tons of textile waste diverted from landfills and showcased at global platforms like COP26, Iro Iro proves that the future of fashion can be rooted in empathy, innovation, and ancestral knowledge.
Price Point: Premium to Accessible
2. Boito
Craft Focus: Bomkai, Kapdaganda, Ringa, Khandua, Pipli, Kotpad
Image Source: Instagram/boito.in
Boito is a craft-driven brand born out of a homecoming- a return to roots and a deep love for Odisha’s textile heritage. At its core, Boito is a preservation project as much as it is a design label. Working closely with Odisha’s weaving communities, the brand aims to sustain traditional techniques, nurture creativity, and provide financial empowerment without disrupting the artisans’ slow, intentional way of life. Each piece reflects the cultural narratives of the region, including age-old motifs, intricate handwoven patterns, and stories passed through generations of skilled hands.
Price Point: Premium/Luxury
3. Terra Luna
Craft Focus: Handspun Khadi, Organic Cotton & Linen
Image Source: terraluna_india
Terra Luna is a label that believes in making clothes you can live in. Their range of shirts, tees, tunics, and shirt dresses is crafted from 100 per cent khadi, organic cotton and pure linen, offering timeless silhouettes that become the perfect canvas for personal style. Beyond style, Terra Luna is about feeling good in what you wear. The brand is entirely handcrafted, sustainable, and proudly GOTS-certified, ensuring its fabrics meet the highest global standards for organic textiles. Partnering with the Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Terra Luna ensures authenticity while supporting India’s handloom ecosystem. Their zero-carbon-footprint process celebrates handspinning and handweaving as living traditions, bridging craft heritage with contemporary design.
Price Point: Mid-range
4. Asha Gautam
Craft Focus: Banarasi, Paithani, Bandhani, Zardosi
Image Source: Instagram/ashagautamofficial
Asha Gautam is a luxury Indian fashion house with a 26-year legacy of reviving traditional crafts through meaningful collaborations with artisans across the country. At the heart of their collections is Chitrakala- a tribute to the romance of Raja Ravi Varma’s artistry. Each lehenga takes over 3,000 to 3,500 painstaking hours, crafted using handwoven Banarasi, Paithani, and Bandhani textiles paired with revived techniques like knot embroidery, appliqué, and intricate zardosi. The collection spans seven states and fifteen craft clusters, engaging over thirty traditional techniques and countless generational hands.
5. Alka Hari
Image Source: Instagram/alka.hari
Craft Focus: Mangalgiri cotton, Kerala handloom, Kasavu, Hand embroidery
Alka Hari celebrates the power of quiet elegance. The brand’s philosophy is simple yet profound: silence is the new luxury. Blending traditional ethnic elements with contemporary sensibilities, Alka Hari creates timeless garments that are both sophisticated and wearable. Each piece is crafted with intention, reflecting the brand’s commitment to quality, subtle beauty, and conscious fashion.
6. Gully Labs
Craft Focus: Kantha Embroidery
Image Source: Instagram/gullylabs
Gully Labs bridges Indian craft heritage and contemporary streetwear with its Kulfi Collection, a sneaker capsule inspired by the nostalgia of India’s iconic frozen dessert. Each pair celebrates artisanal detail, using hand-done Kantha embroidery to translate centuries-old storytelling into modern design. Originating from eastern India, Kantha is traditionally used to upcycle old textiles into heirloom quilts, embodying sustainability and community. Gully Labs reinterprets this craft through gradient running stitches across premium leather panels, echoing the creamy fade of melting kulfi.
Price Point: Accessible to premium
7. 11.11 / eleven eleven
Craft Focus: Khadi, kala cotton, natural dyes, stitch resist
Image Source: Instagram/1111clothing
11.11 / eleven eleven is a slow fashion label built around a ‘seed to stitch’ philosophy, celebrating India’s indigenous cotton and natural dye traditions. Every garment is small-batch and slow-made, crafted in collaboration with artisan communities across the country using heritage techniques such as hand-spinning, handloom weaving, miniature tie-dye, hand painting, and quilting.
Natural dyes used in 11.11’s textiles are entirely plant-based and safe for both skin and soil. After dyeing, the nitrogen-rich water and organic residue return to the earth as fertiliser for local crops, completing a cycle of sustainability that mirrors the brand’s philosophy.
Price Point: Premium
8. Rata by Pratiksha Tandon
Craft Focus: Handwoven bead jewellery
Image Source: Instagram/ratalove.in
Every piece is made bead-by-bead without machines, looms, or moulds. Rata’s pieces are made by artisans in a sunlit studio. It’s wearable art with a pulse. From ethically sourced beads to made-to-order ethics, Rata stands for sustainable joy.
Price Point: Premium
9. Paher
Craft Focus: Jamdani, Handloom Cotton, Organic Kala Cotton
Image Source: paher.in
Rooted in slow fashion and the Japanese aesthetic of wabi‑sabi, Paher celebrates the beauty of handmade imperfections. Each season‑less garment is designed for comfort, from morning coffee to evening rest, alongside a deep respect for Indian weaving traditions. Ethically crafted in small batches, made-to-order to reduce waste. Iro Iro’s artisan partnerships across India ensure both cultural preservation and livelihood sustainability.
Price Point: Premium
10. Kokūn
Craft Focus: Naturally dyed, hand-crafted textiles and zero-waste garments
Image Source: Instagram/kokun.india
Kokūn, founded by textile artist Mridu, is like an intimate dialogue between earth, craft, and wearer. The brand creates one-of-a-kind garments dyed with living colours sourced from indigo, tesu flowers, hibiscus, neem leaves, and more. The brand’s process-driven approach bridges traditional textile knowledge with modern relevance, producing small-batch, made-to-order pieces that minimise waste and carry the soulful touch of the maker. Behind every garment is a network of women artisans in rural Uttarakhand and Raghurampur, trained in natural dyeing, foraging, and handwork, creating dignified livelihoods rooted in craft revival.
Price Point: Premium, made-to-order
11. Padhmah
Craft Focus: Kanjeevaram
Image Source: Instagram/padhmah
Padhmah is rooted in legacy and quiet storytelling, weaving the soul of India’s handloom heritage into contemporary design. Every sari is created through deep research, a close collaboration with skilled artisans, and a strong commitment to preserving traditional weaving techniques.
Founded by designer Vidya Lakshmi, Padhmah grew from years of exploring the Kanjeevaram cluster and documenting diverse Indian textiles. Her work seeks to create saris that feel timeless yet relevant, respecting the authenticity of craft while allowing design to evolve.