The word “ethnicity” is quite ambiguous. It has often been used while describing certain patterns or behaviors established within a society. At times, ethnicity can also be related to more literal geographic boundary. The definition has changed multiple times over the past few years. Earlier, it emphasized on the cultural aspect of a region whereas now, with the age of modernization, ethnicity usually refers to a social groups following a similar trait such as speaking the same language or having similar religious beliefs etc. Our perspective of ethnicity is with reference to individuality, values and practices of a group who feel connected to their heritage, either through traditional methods or via a hybrid of different cultures, overall making the society distinct enough to stand out from the other ethnic groups. However, ethnicity isn’t always inherited from the older generations. With globalization, ethnicity can be “constructed by external socioeconomic processes and media promotions” too (Nagel, 1994) There is no fixed definition for ethnic identity. It’s a dynamic fluid term that keeps evolving with the various global conditions of society. Referring to the statement of this particular assignment, Quentin Crisp quoted, Fashion is what you adopt when you don’t know who you are. Taking the sentence in a literal sense, it stated that those who are clueless about their ethnic origins would just adopt the fashion sense of their current society in order to derive a feeling of identity. Fashion styles are just one aspect contributing to ethnic identity. But why is ethnic fashion considered as a distinguishing characteristic? After all, fashion evolves at a rapid pace; new trends popping up constantly each year, various styles being adopted from different regions etc. Ethnic fashion is vital because it has a multitude of identities. It can represent a person’s traditional heritage, or political affiliations, religious associations, or even simply, individuality in terms of personal taste. Just like the term “ethnicity”, ethnic fashion is dynamic, forever evolving and still managing to retain its own unique characteristic that allows it to differentiate itself from other communities. The best place to study various styles of ethnic fashion is in India. With changes brought forth by globalization, India has been divided into three distinct categories of ethnic individuality, each unique and considering themselves to be the dominant Indian identity.

1. Module: Sociology Of Design
Assignment 2: Redefining Indian Identity
through fashion. (Ethnic Vintage)
M.Des 1.1
Name: Harshal Desai
Lecturers
Dr Kelvin Lee
Arabella Pasquette
Date of Submission
7/21/2011
Word Count: 3392

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 2
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 3
BRIEF HISTORY ................................................................................................................................ 4
CASE STUDIES ................................................................................................................................. 6
Traditional Youth ....................................................................................................................... 7
Semi-Modern Youth .................................................................................................................. 9
Modern Youth.......................................................................................................................... 11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................. 14
WORKS CITED............................................................................................................................... 16
IMAGES REFERENCED ................................................................................................................. 17
1

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The word “ethnicity” is quite ambiguous. It has often been used while describing certain
patterns or behaviors established within a society. At times, ethnicity can also be
related to more literal geographic boundary. The definition has changed multiple times
over the past few years. Earlier, it emphasized on the cultural aspect of a region
whereas now, with the age of modernization, ethnicity usually refers to a social groups
following a similar trait such as speaking the same language or having similar religious
beliefs etc. Our perspective of ethnicity is with reference to individuality, values and
practices of a group who feel connected to their heritage, either through traditional
methods or via a hybrid of different cultures, overall making the society distinct enough
to stand out from the other ethnic groups. However, ethnicity isn’t always inherited from
the older generations. With globalization, ethnicity can be “constructed by external
socioeconomic processes and media promotions” too (Nagel, 1994)
There is no fixed definition for ethnic identity. It’s a dynamic fluid term that keeps
evolving with the various global conditions of society.
Referring to the statement of this particular assignment, Quentin Crisp quoted,
Fashion is what you adopt when you don’t know who you are.
Taking the sentence in a literal sense, it stated that those who are clueless about their
ethnic origins would just adopt the fashion sense of their current society in order to
derive a feeling of identity. Fashion styles are just one aspect contributing to ethnic
identity. But why is ethnic fashion considered as a distinguishing characteristic? After
all, fashion evolves at a rapid pace; new trends popping up constantly each year,
various styles being adopted from different regions etc.
Ethnic fashion is vital because it has a multitude of identities. It can represent a person’s
traditional heritage, or political affiliations, religious associations, or even simply,
individuality in terms of personal taste. Just like the term “ethnicity”, ethnic fashion is
dynamic, forever evolving and still managing to retain its own unique characteristic
that allows it to differentiate itself from other communities.
The best place to study various styles of ethnic fashion is in India. With changes brought
forth by globalization, India has been divided into three distinct categories of ethnic
individuality, each unique and considering themselves to be the dominant Indian
identity.
2

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Our research focuses on the different aspects of ethnic fashion in India and how the
variations manage to link up to a global Indian identity.
We will first quickly browse through the rise of the fashion industry in India, the changes
taken place after the British Era and the problems faced accepting the western culture.
We will highlight the stages where western and Indian styles fused together to allure the
Indian society and finally accepting a hybrid of the two cultures. However since there is
still a vast majority that sees westernization of India in a negative viewpoint and prefers
to stick to the old style, there are many variations of Indian attires.
We created three personas reflecting the three divisions of Indian society, the
traditional, the semi-modern, and the modern; and by analyzing their choices in attire
we wish to find out how similar or different are these three variations of society.
Our emphasis will be on the colors, style of clothing, derivations of the cultural history,
and how and why these personas believe their sense of fashion depicts them as
Indians.
We are keeping the geographic boundaries within India for the most part of our report,
and will touch on the subject of Indian emigrants in our conclusion. Also, we won’t be
including the fashion styles varying according to religions or different castes, sticking
only to people who fall broadly under the three main categories we listed above.
The personas created are fictional accounts, and do not represent any specific
individual. They are a generalization of the group of people that can epitomize their
category.
To sum up, our research involves
1. Brief Summary of the rise of Fashion industry in India
2. Case studies of traditional, semi-modern, and modern Indians.
3. Results.
3

5. BRIEF HISTORY
To understand the involvement of fashion with Indian ethnicity, we must take a look into
the past.
Under the British rule, the cotton mills were introduced to the economy and were a
major threat to the traditional handloom industry. After achieving independence in
1947, the Indian government was well aware of their disappearing industry and took
actions to revive the handicrafts but was unsuccessful on a global level, leaving India to
become a large exporter of mill-made clothing.
Locally, Indians didn’t care much for these garments as a majority of them included
shirts, trousers and skirts. The men accepted the western clothes more quickly because
of the ease of fitting but women continued wearing the traditional saris for the next two
decades. The reason for this wasn’t just primarily because of cultural differences; it also
had to do with the fact that the clothing lacked individuality.
Until the 1960s, the local fashion industry consisted largely of textile industries and tailors.
Women would purchase the fabric that was hand woven and embroidered by tailors or
printed out in textile mills. Everything was custom made, and the level of uniqueness
and style depended on the talent of the tailors. (Tarlo, 1996)
Eventually younger women started drifting towards western clothing, particularly skirts.
Tailors were not able to reproduce the perfect factory fit that was available in
readymade store-brought clothing. However, they managed to survive since they were
still creating unique designs, using different kinds of embroidery and textiles in their
hand-made clothing. (Chishti & Jain, 2000)
The first generation fashion designers in India faced enormous challenges since they
weren’t attracting their audience enough with western fashion trends. Like an
entrepreneurs taking on new undertakings, the fashion designers had to “build trust and
reliability at the industry and institutional levels in order to gain a strong socioeconomic
foothold” (Aldrich & Fiol, 1994)
The main issue came because the Indian populous didn’t understand the role of fashion
designers at all. The classic method was to just purchase the garment, and send it to
the tailors to customize it according to their taste. People would step into western stores,
estimate a cost of the fabric required to make a shirt from the tailors and realize the
western stores are charging at a much higher price. What they didn’t realize is the extra
cost is for the style of cut, it was quite difficult for fashion designers to explain that to
their customers.
Basically, fashion designers were called overrated tailors.
4

6. To get their own distinct identity and establish a strong base in the Indian community,
fashion designers focused on reinventing the traditional Indian clothing, trying to
introduce the fitting styles into the women’s attire. They also studied the traditional styles
of embroidery and embellishing, experimenting with hand-made textiles and colors,
making the end product slightly more decorative and fashionable. (Mathur, 2002)
They created two main varieties, one style of decorative clothing which could be worn
on a day-to-day basis, and another with is richly decorated, suitable for festivals and
weddings; all the while retaining the western sense of fitting and cuts.
This strategy had effective results.
First, adding the embellishments made the clothes look more magnificent and justified
the designer’s reason to sell at a higher cost. The wedding and festival series were
widely appreciated as they were considered lavish and luxurious, fitting the
environment perfectly. Embellished clothing became the mark of luxury.
Secondly, fusing the traditional methods with Western styles allowed designers to claim
that they are reviving and preserving the traditional skills and crafts, keeping the cultural
heritage of the country going forward, and the more people endorse them by buying
their attire, the longer they can keep the traditions alive. (Tarlo, 1996)
One has to make note that it wasn’t just emphasizing on traditional techniques, but
using the crafts along with western fittings that made the fashion designers popular and
stand apart from conventional tailors. They eventually pioneered the entire industry,
giving rise to several fashion education institutions all over the country.
Fashion magazines began popping up in the market, depicting the latest trends and
styles. The media began promoting the brand new designers by hosting fashion shows,
and using Bollywood films. Several stores opened up all over the country and eventually
a point reached where they acquired a global status.
Currently, Indian fashion is still on the rise. There has been a slight shift in context for
some of the Indian populous who relate to the rich traditional wear as a costume while
real fashion is something that looks elegant and can be worn daily with ease.
The first generation designers emphasized on decoration, modern designers are
focusing on the design of the clothing. It’s not a complete change; it’s a slow, albeit
unstoppable transition. (Sengupta, 2005)
Let us explore now whether this change impacted the three divisions of Indian society.
5

7. CASE STUDIES
A majority of India’s population is young people. If you consider being “young” as
people under the age of 30, this accounts to nearly 60% of the population, 47% of those
being under the age of 20. That equals to roughly 160 million teenagers. This ensures
that India’s population will grow in the future. It has been estimated that within 2015,
people under the age of 20 will constitute 55% of India’s population. (Kriplani, 1999)
From the numbers it is quite obvious that the youth has a definitive role in the
socioeconomic conditions of society. However, research showed that not everyone is
influenced by western culture. Kaustav SenGupta, an associate professor at the
National Institute of Fashion Technology found out that you can categorize the youth
into three groups: The traditional, the semi-modern and the modern. (Sengupta K. ,
2011)
Socioeconomic breakdown of Indian
Youth Population
Traditional
Semi Modern
Modern
Figure 1: Socioeconomic breakdown of Indian Youth Population i
We have created three generalized fictional personas based on our observations of
these three categories, to study the different mindsets when it comes to fashion and
how it still links up to one collective Indian identity.
6

8. TRADITIONAL YOUTH
The traditional youth consists of 67% of the young population, living mostly in the rural
areas of India. These are the places that have least western influence, and are rich in
traditional values and cultures. People here have deep rooted family traditions and are
generally adept in the classical handicrafts. Their major sources of trends are affected
by Bollywood movies and small local news channels. (Sengupta K. , 2011)
Figure 2: A street shop in a village ii
From the picture we can take a look at the variety of bright colors available
interspersed with a simple embroidered pattern or minimal embellishments, or even tiedyed patterns directly on the fabric. The design styles are quite basic, down-to-earth,
keeping special attention on vibrant hues of pink, blue, oranges and red. Green is also
a common color; however it’s mostly used in combination with the other colors.
7

9. Consider two traditional Indian teenagers, a girl named Radha and a guy named
Krishna. Both have lived within their villages all their life.
Krishna has two variations of attire. On any general day he can wear a plain colored
shirt and trousers or ‘lehengas’. Jeans would be an extremely rare sight in a village. His
daily attire mostly consists of muted shades, often earthy tones, which make us, link
them towards their lifestyle and work environment. Basic and traditional at its finest.
On special occasions, festivals or weddings, Krishna has a chance to wear a slightly
more stylish ‘kurta’ which is an Indian variation of a t-shirt; there will be some embroidery
involved and in certain areas, often a turban. Slightly more extravagant style might
include a ‘sherwani’ which is common wedding attire for the groom. His fashion sense is
influenced by Bollywood, and even though he doesn’t have options to mimic the
quality, he can definitely modify his clothing to match the latest styles as close as
possible.
Radha on the other hand, has a more restricted daily wear. She isn’t generally allowed
to wear shirts or trousers that men wear. For the most part, her attire consists of a
salwaar kameez(shown in the pictures above) for day to day basis. In contast with
Krishna, Radha’s attire is more colorful, having brighter shades, possibly to signify the
woman’s capability to brighten up the environment and keep the overall spirits of the
village upbeat, particularly during local festivals and gatherings. There are some
embellishments and embroideries to depict a sense of uniqueness within each dress
and portray women in a more artistic beautiful perspective. Almost each dress comes
with a dupatta which is a long cotton veil that can be worn around both shoulder or
crossed over one shoulder from front to back. While this does have aesthetic value, the
primary reason is to cover up their chests.
During special occasions, Radha has a chance to wear a brightly colored sari that
consists of various beads, mirrors and other traditional embellishments. The embroidery
consists of reasonably intricate patterns, enough to make them stand out amongst the
rest of the crowd.
Both Radha and Krishna may or may not accustom to more westernized attire, but if
they would, they would be frowned upon by their community. They often live simple
lives and believe they often don’t associate themselves with Western culture often,
possibly because they have been following the traditional ways of their ancestors for
generations and change doesn’t occur easily for them. They are content with their life
and would consider themselves to represent the true Indian culture from the point of
devoting their lives towards the traditional handicrafts.
8

10. SEMI-MODERN YOUTH
Consisting of 31.5 percent of the youth population, they have moderate global
influence. The youth here are quite aware of the global trends, but on most occasions
still stick to their traditional roots, family values and customs.
Figure 3: Semi-Modern Youth Fashion iii
Consider the semi modern youths, a girl named Ragini and a guy named Kishore. Both
have access to western wear, but prefer to go for the more localized fashion brands.
While both Ragini and Kishore can wear the usual jeans and shirts comfortably, for most
of the time they tend to avoid it.
Ragini prefers to the modernized version of the salwaar kameez, whereas Kishore
prefers a short kurta with jeans instead of a shirt. They frequently participate in festivals
and often follow the traditional Indian values.
Regarding the attire itself, Ragini’s dressing attire generally doesn’t contain the same
flamboyant colors as depicted by the traditional Radha. The fabric fits more nicely
9

11. since it’s factory-made, and there is more emphasis on design and pattern. Colors are
varied but rarely ever too bright, often including two-three combinations of hues. While
they do have a dupatta, recently it has become an optional accessory. The fitting of
the dress accentuates Ragini’s curves and the patterned fabric retains the appeal of
artistic beauty. At times there may even be embroidery and embellishments though
they are kept relatively small to keep the fabric lightweight. At times, Ragini might wear
a combination of a kameez with jeans too.
Kishore generally wears jeans on a regular basis. He shows his Indian identity by
preferring short kurtas in place of shirts and tshirts for casual wear. Again, the colors are
generally muted, not overly flamboyant. There are some embroidery patterns on his
attire, frequently around the neck and collar. He too prefers the readymade fitting and
finds it much more comfortable than getting his clothing tailor-made.
Figure 4: Semi-Modern Indian Wedding Attire iv
The scenario changes during festivals or weddings. The clothing styles for both Kishore
and Ragini shift towards an overly flamboyant, heavily embroidered dress, often using
gold threads to make intricate patterns, and even involving embellishments of semiprecious stones. Special occasions like these bring a myriad of vivid colors, red being
the most common among weddings. Both Kishore and Ragini are decked up in a
10

12. hybrid of traditional Indian clothing with more modernized appeal. They perform all
their rituals and practices that have been the norm for decades.
For Ragini and Kishore, this represents their Indian identity and they consider themselves
to represent the true Indian culture since they have maintained a fairly healthy balance
between their Indian heritage and modernization.
MODERN YOUTH
They are the most influential amongst the youth. They might be just 1.5 percent of the
youth, but that 1.5% equals to roughly THREE MILLION people, and their numbers are
growing strongly (70 percent growth rate). They are tech savvy, highly influenced by
western culture, music, food, fashion etc. They are quite frequently the first to
experiment new trends, often being trendsetters themselves. (Sengupta K. , 2011)
Figure 5: Modern Youth Casual Attire v
Consider two modern Indian youths, a girl named Rita and a guy named Krish. Both are
most comfortable sporting jeans and a tshirt as part of their casual attire. They generally
gravitate towards western brands, though on an off chance might sport an Indian
pattern in the form of motifs or tshirt prints from time to time.
Rita doesn’t feel consider wearing the salwar kameez style of clothing as the semimodern Ragini. She prefers to have a more casual and completely comfortable style of
clothing. She will often be looking for the latest trends globally and will adopt them
according to her own taste.
11

13. Krish spends most of his times shopping for designer clothing. Colors and patterns
attribute more towards his personal taste, often keeping it clean and modern. He also
finds it more relaxing to wear the western attire over the traditional kurtas.
This doesn’t mean that they go out of their way to avoid Indian attires. Quite the
contrary, they too wear it sometimes on special occasions. However, for both Rita and
Krish, its more of a costume to be worn for a special occasion once in a while. Even
there, they manage to find western variations of it.
Figure 6: Modern Bridal Wear vi
Krish would wear a clean patterned, light embroidered and embellished suit, probably
made of silk, which appears to retain the Indian style in some aspects but fits as snugly
as a western formal jacket. While they may look simple, these are generally the top of
the line designer clothing and much more expensive than the flamboyant counterparts
of the semi-modern dresses.
Similarly Rita may find a revamp of the standard western bridal gown, only hers isn’t
white, it’s a striking shade of color, which would have light decorations on it. Keeping
the focus more on the designer perspective rather than overwhelming the dress with
embroidery and embellishments.
Take note that Rita and Krish would wear these dresses simply because it’s fashionable.
They might as well wear products from Armani or Chanel should they prefer to. For
them, it’s the concept of style, design and level of comfort.
12

14. Rita and Krish have a very different outlook on the “Indian” identity. Both believe in the
concept of a “global identity”, where there are no boundaries between cultures, no
distinction of developed and developing countries etc. They are the harbingers of
western culture to India, and are often criticized by the rest of the public for being
spoiled by western civilization. Yet, even though they may not show it in their dressing
attire or their lack of traditional family values etc, they consider themselves to be Indian
at heart. Although their numbers are small, both believe to represent the Indian identity,
in terms of the next stage of evolution, taking the most valuable aspects of Indian
culture into the modern society, leaving behind some of the archaic traditions and
shedding the boundaries of Indian identity to reach a more global perspective.
They strongly believe in getting rid of the image of India being a slowly developing
country, repainting the image that India is in fact, quite developed already and this will
help make their country a better place and achieve a firm base on a global scale.
13

15. CONCLUSION
Globalization in India has brought positive and negative feedback. Those who are
determined to stick to the past, or preserve India’s entire heritage, globalization is a
threat. They believe it’s the modernizing different industries that are causing an increase
in unemployment numbers. Some have such a negative view that they blame
everything upon westernization: crime, destruction of environment, religious violence
etc.
Such people are so unwilling to accept the change they overlook the positive aspects.
The Indian economy has increased its influence on a global scale. Women have been
empowered to perform non-traditional roles, giving more freedom. There’s been a
huge rise with regards to new technologies, allowing us access to the entire world.
We mentioned that the Indian Youth plays a vital role here. Among the modern youth,
the 1.5% or three million people and growing, they are one of the most critical players in
embracing globalization, reinventing their lifestyles in ways never imagined by others.
Oddly enough, anthropologist Srinivas notes that there was a dual effect of
globalization. While Indian youth was adopting western trends, the West was getting
highly influenced by Indian culture and practices. Yoga, meditation, cultural arts were
becoming the latest trends in the western world. When the Indian youth realized this,
they had a renewed interest in learning about their own culture… quite the irony.
(Srinivas, 2002)
Most of the older generations believe this sudden fondness towards modernization is
because the youth don’t know about the “hardships and shortages the nation faced
after its economic reform in the late 1980s” (Stevens, 2004).
There is some truth to that since the youth today is experiencing a very different Indian
environment than what it was 20 years ago. They have a more global outlook and feel
like they belong to a larger community where geographical boundaries don’t matter.
They blend Indian values with western ideas.
The youth culture has made such a global impact on the western world that many
Hollywood celebrities were seen wearing the modern Indian attires during the film
festivals. Oddly enough, Indian emigrants have their own variations regarding Indian
fashion and culture. While some actually seek to learn about their heritage, others
completely abolish it and adopt the culture of the locality in order to fit in, epitomizing
Quentin Crisp’s statement, “fashion is what you adopt when you don’t know who you
are”
14

16. However, after the detailed analysis of the variations of fashion in Indian youth, we
have to say that Quentin Crisp’s statement doesn’t always hold true.
All three categories of Indian youth have their own unique styles and still contribute to
an overall “Indian” identity. While modern Indian youth may adopt western cultures
and fashion styles, their roots are still Indian. They haven’t forgotten that, and are only
evolving to newer, evolved versions of the stereotypical “Indian identity”.
And regarding the large number of people objecting globalization of India?
All we can conclude is that globalization of the country is always going to remain
controversial and multidimensional, however it is definitely inevitable and will continue
to progress at a rapid pace.
15

17. WORKS CITED
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18. IMAGES REFERENCED
Socioeconomic breakdown of Indian youth population. Data retrieved on 18 August 2011 from
http://www.imagesfashion.com/content/PrintContent.aspx?cid=1023
i
A street shop in a village. Image retrieved on 18 August, 2011 from
http://desigirlsclub.com/indian-village-decent-dress/
ii
iii Semi-Modern Youth Fashion. Image retrieved on 18 August 2011 from
http://www.yourdesignerwear.com
iv
Semi Modern Indian Wedding Attire. Image retrieved from personal archives.
v
Modern Youth Casual Attire. Image Retrieved from personal archives.
Modern BridalWear, Image retrieved on 18 August 2011 from
http://product-image.tradeindia.com
vi
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