What Australia taught me about Indian wear

When I moved to Sydney in 2010, I had a small studio in Bondi and a regular Mumbai-to-Sydney shipping account, and almost no Australian customers. The Indian-Australian community shopped through trips home, the rest of Australia didn't know what to ask for, and I spent the first year wondering whether I had made a mistake.

It took me a few seasons to understand: the diaspora doesn't want what India wants. We want India, but adapted for the place we actually live. We want lehengas you can dance in at a sangeet that's in a Melbourne warehouse with a sound system and no chairs. We want sherwanis that don't look out of place at a reception in Sydney where half the guests are wearing tuxedos. We want sarees that can be draped without three aunts in the bathroom.

We also want our non-Indian friends and partners to be comfortable wearing what we wear. This last part took me longer to learn. The first cross-cultural Indian wedding I dressed in Australia — a Punjabi bride and her Anglo-Australian best friend — I spent more time explaining what a sangeet was than fitting the actual outfits. I have learned to write the explanation down. It is now a guide on our site.

What Australia taught me: Indian wear is not for Indians only. It is for occasions, and occasions are universal. The bride is the bride; the guest is the guest; the cousin flying in from London is the cousin flying in from London. The piece I sell you should respect where it came from and also respect where you are wearing it.

That is the brief I work to every season. India behind every piece, Australia in every fit, the rest of the world welcomed in.