ROCHELLE PINTO, EDITOR OF VOGUE INDIA, WRITES ABOUT FORCES OF FASHION, WHICH PUT 39 UNIQUE WORKS UNDER ONE ROOF, PIECING TOGETHER A SHORT HISTORY OF FASHION IN INDIA.

If you want to step into the mind of Cristóbal Balenciaga, the game-changing Spanish couturier who died over 50 years ago, all you have to do is beg, bribe or charm your way into 10 Avenue George V in Paris.

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Cross the threshold of the temperature controlled fashion temple manned by gloved assistants in white coats and you whiz back in time - with over 6,000 pieces from the brand's archives on display, and more being added every season, allowing you to physically map the brand's lineage. Similar devotion is at play at the house of Chanel where over 50,000 products are preserved in a building in Pantin; at Gucci's Palazzo Settimanni address in Florence; and at the Armani archive in Milan, built by Giorgio Armani himself in 2015.

Hop on a plane back home to India, and you'll find those climate-proof caverns swapped for boxes in a warehouse, if you're lucky. Most Indian designers still operate as CEO, creative director, chief marketing officer and a host of other roles, leaving little time to think and act on legacy. And so, the history of the Indian runway and those who built it lies scattered across newspaper articles, brand books, Google searches and the memories of a small circle of industry insiders.