Raw Mango Takes over London Fashion Week

By the time Sanjay Garg wrapped up his debut show at London Fashion Week as Raw Mango, unveiled its fall/winter collection, Not About The Flower, he had reframed what this moment meant to him. Staged under the glass canopy of the Royal Horticultural Halls with jasmine garlands lining the runway, the stage didn’t overpower the clothes. There was everything put out for London that has been central to Raw Mango: colour, silks, archival brocades, hand embroidery, carefully distilled and measured in a way that didn’t scream Indianness.

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Garg, as always, strikes the balance between minimalism and maximalism, combining maximalist heritage into a controlled, contemporary vocabulary. A grounded approach that the label has stuck to since its launch in 2008. For him, “A stage is a stage. Presenting in London is as good as presenting in Kanpur. I’m less interested in defining my audience and more interested in further exploring and articulating my design language. Raw Mango has always spoken to the aesthetics and sensibilities of women who are conscious of quality, have a strong view on design, and a confident sense of self. That’s why our relationship with our audiences transcends across age groups, professions, interests and geographies.”

Anoushka Shankar with Sanjay Garg at London Fashion Week

There’s a huge responsibility on Indian designers to take Indian fashion global and set the right narrative. To not get carried away and be boxed in cliches of decorative flourish and surface ornamentation, but to let crafts take center stage. Stemming from his love for flowers, Garg used the garland—a deeply South Asian symbol of ritual, plurality, and passage—as a method for the show. Rooted in the loom yet oriented toward the future, the collection saw sharp, disciplined silhouettes—overlays, trench coats, free-flowing gowns, shirt-skirt combos, and waist-high pants—reframing Indian textiles as contemporary design thinking, albeit in the Raw Mango vernacular.

In this interview, Garg reflects on craft, culture, and why changing perception matters more than applause.

Why was London the right city for this particular story and what conversations do you hope it sparks?

Our work has received a lot of positive attention from this part of the world. Be it an ambassador or a first lady, artist or diplomat, we have been graced with a great audience. Our 18th anniversary is on the horizon and London is a place I’ve always felt a deep connection to.

As for the conversations, there is still a strong association between Indian fashion and a certain kind of aesthetic—heavy gold embroidery, and maximalist ensembles that overwhelm the eye and the body with “bling”. In the long-term, it is the creative labor and overarching work that will matter, rather than what’s on the surface. We are trying to reframe some of these narratives with this collection.

How did you approach designing this collection?

Our creative process is rooted in innovating on the loom. Our design interventions begin at the level of the weave, sometimes even the yarn. Our work is a response to an internal pursuit; what excites us, what needs to be explored, what holds meaning. I am always designing something and thinking of ‘what next’ and given our design process, it takes years to materialise. Garlands were the inspiration for this collection. Flowers remain an important part of South-East Asia and South Asia. But we don’t really have a culture of giving one individual flower to someone, like, say, a rose on Valentine’s Day. I wanted to show through my collection how a 3D garland becomes the body rather than just a decoration. It’s not about one individual flower; it’s about the plurality.

Is there a particular emotion or cultural memory you want this collection to evoke?

Whether it’s a death, a birth, a wedding, or a religious ritual, you see garlands, irrespective of the religion. In the subcontinent, garlands can be found decorating everything that is deemed important: a new car, an old tree, a lover’s bun, a doorway, and those who walk through them.

This collection uses the garland itself as a motif, recreating it with fabric and thread across garments that blur the line between decoration and the garment.

How does this collection differ from your past bodies of work?

Raw Mango is not about the revival of textiles as much as imagining textile futures. We engage with the visual vocabulary of India through measured interventions within traditional practices, be it design, material, tools, technique or colour. The way we engage is varied and reflective of an ongoing dialogue I have with myself, my curiosities, a commentary on the zeitgeist. This collection plays with a vocabulary of textiles that we have built over the last 17 years. We looked for inspiration in ancient stone sculptures and the potlis (bundles) seen in flower markets around South Asia. The flowers themselves are constructed in various non-traditional and silk-like fabrics, assembled or rolled by hand, each placed in delicate arrangements on lightly embroidered brocades, rib-knit cottons, quilted rayon and wool felt. I wanted the garment’s underlying beauty to shine, which is often lost under the weight of excessive embroidery.

How do you balance preservation of craft and reinterpreting it for contemporary fashion?

I believe that for textile crafts to survive, they require design intervention. Our textiles often involve 1-2 years of research, design and sampling before being made. Throughout this, the weavers and stakeholders are present and the process is very much about possibilities on the loom. We have never been bound by fashion weeks; our collection launches aren’t bound by seasons. We make sure to look at our design contribution to the textile, not just its contribution to our work.

Do you see this collection as a cultural statement as much as a fashion one?

Textile and fashion are a medium of expression for me—one of many. I want to interest the larger world in art, dance, and cultural exchange. I see my role as bigger than just being a part of the fashion industry.

After London, how do you see this collection living on—through craft, commerce, or conversation?

All three. And more. Our philosophy articulates itself across each touchpoint, extending even beyond textile and garments to the way our stores are designed, the events we host, and our collaborations. We continue investigating cultural norms through image-making and visual storytelling. We create our own films that draw from and question the fabric of life in India. We make our own music in collaboration with contemporary artists. Be it in a store, a museum or a casual chat, I see our work—including this collection—thriving on the feelings and thoughts and perspectives it evokes in our audiences.

What does success at London Fashion Week look like for you?

My vision for ‘success’ would be the conversations we inspire and a change in attitudes around how fashion and textiles from the subcontinent are perceived on platforms like this. I am trying to break some of the stereotypes and reframe the conversation.

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