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Demand is fueling the growth in fashion mainly from ‘gold collar’ workers – highly paid professionals with excess disposable incomes and a growing middle class in India. International brands are vying for a share of this market and hundreds are trying to break into the country. Luxury brands, international labels and smaller fashion start-ups are using Instagram influencers as part of their digital marketing strategies. Sometimes influencers are paid, sometimes they are given free merchandise, sometimes they have to return the merchandise. Companies also have to find the right influencer who works for their brand and make sure that they are the real deal and that they really do have an engaged following, rather than followers that are ‘bought’ through companies offering to boost followers for a fee. It is not just western clothes that young Indian women are interested in. The majority of Indian women (around 70%) are buying traditional Indian clothes – the salwar kameez, long and short kurtas and the sari using textiles imprinted with patterns that have a rich heritage. Influencers like Kritika Khurana (@That Boho Girl) and Sonia Garg (@HerVagabondLife) are wearing both western and Indian clothes together in a new trend of ‘fusion fashion’ and showcasing new, upcoming designers in styles which are comfortable, modern and distinctively Indian.

Video filmed and edited by Nina Robinson.