INDIA'S GOT THE IT-BAG

The most coveted bags of the season are coming straight out of Indian ateliers - by the very hands that once built the luxury world's best-kept secrets

- Words ARANYAA CHOWDHURY

For decades, luxury's biggest secret has been hiding in plain sight. While Paris took the applause and Milan took the credit, the fine embroidery, beading, and craftsmanship that made those 'Made in Italy' bags so irresistible? Much of it came from India. Now, the tables have turned — and India's designers are finally claiming their rightful place on the world's most exclusive arms.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Anita Dongre, Rahul Mishra, Tarun Tahiliani, and Anamika Khanna — names synonymous with couture — are now building handbag legacies that rival their western counterparts. The shift is seismic: The bag, that most visible of accessories, has become a new canvas for India's craft revival.

Sabyasachi's handbags, now proudly stocked at Bergdorf Goodman, are as much cultural artifacts as they are accessories. His Loreto bag, adorned with the house's roaring tiger motif, is part colonial nostalgia, part maximalist fantasy. Then there's the 'Tropical Minaudière', an ode to cane, rattan, and tropical hedonism; and the 'Nani Bucket' bag, inspired by his grandmother's velvet potli — a reminder that even the grandest global pieces can begin with a childhood memory.