24 — The Indian Gaze: Who Are We Designing Fashion Images For?

For over a century, the defining lens through which Indian aesthetics were viewed globally was the Western gaze.

It was a gaze that often sought the exotic, the chaotic, the hyper-spiritual, or the impoverished. It looked for maharajas, snake charmers, or slumdogs. It rarely looked for nuance.

Today, as Indian creators take control of their own visual narratives, a new question emerges: Who are we designing our images for?

Reclaiming the Narrative

The "Indian Gaze" is the act of looking at ourselves without the burden of having to translate our culture for a foreign audience.

It means we don't have to over-explain a saree. We don't have to exoticize a temple. We can present our aesthetics as the default, rather than the alternative.

When Ziya is styled in a contemporary handloom look, the image isn't designed to look "ethnic" for a Western moodboard. It is designed to look modern for an Indian reality.

The Confidence to be Quiet

Under the Western gaze, Indian fashion was often forced to be loud to be recognized. It had to be bright, heavily embroidered, and overwhelmingly intricate to signal its origins.

The Indian Gaze has the confidence to be quiet.

We can appreciate the subtle beauty of a plain, unbleached cotton textile. We can find high fashion in the drape of a simple lungi or the utilitarian cut of a kurta. We know the cultural value of these items, so we don't need to dress them up in sequins to make them valid.

A Global Export

The irony is that by designing for ourselves, and by refusing to pander to exotic stereotypes, the resulting imagery is far more globally compelling.

True authenticity cannot be faked. When the world looks at the new wave of Indian fashion photography, they are finally seeing us through our own eyes. And the view is spectacular.