How Mayyur Girotra is preserving India’s textile heritage one couture piece at a time

Indian couture is no stranger to narrating heritage tales through weaves and textiles, but the real challenge is to preserve them. Homegrown designer Mayyur Girotra dropped a masterclass in transforming textiles into capsules of culture over two thoughtfully curated days in Delhi. The couturier introduced The Collectables, a deeply personal new chapter for the house, through a series of intimate gatherings that reflected the philosophy behind the initiative: a reverence for craft, memory, and objects that carry history within them. It was only fitting to host a soirée dubbed in history at the historic Shahjahanabad. The doors of Jama Masjid opened for a private Shahi Iftari on the Shahjahan Terrace, graciously hosted by Imam Shaban Bukhari and Girotra. With the domes and minarets of the mosque rising around the gathering, the evening carried the quiet sense of occasion that only Delhi’s oldest spaces seem to hold. The Collectibles, for the designer, is more than just a collection on the racks, it is about restoring dignity and long-term value to something that has always deserved it, and “the timing felt instinctive but also urgent,” says Girotra. “Over the years, I have seen Indian heritage textiles being admired aesthetically yet not always valued as cultural artefacts with history, technique, and legacy embedded within them. There is a growing global appetite for craft but often it is consumed in a way that strips it of its depth...reduced to trend rather than treated as something to be preserved, studied, and collected. With The Collectables, I wanted to shift that narrative,” he shares.

The initiative grew out of Girotra’s long engagement with India’s textile traditions, years of travel, and the urge to honour the artisans and their creative vision. “We now work closely with artisan clusters over extended periods developing designs together, investing time in understanding their processes and ensuring fair, consistent engagement rather than one-off projects. It’s important that the artisans are not just executing ideas but are participants in the creative dialogue,” notes the designer. Lauded for his intricate collections, Girotra, over the years has sourced rare historic fabrics from across the country preserving them before reimagining them into contemporary couture pieces. “The goal is to create an ecosystem where craft is not just preserved, but it evolves, thrives, and remains relevant for future generations—both culturally and economically. And most importantly with fair wages for the weavers and artisans,” he concludes.

Lead image: The brand

This article originally appeared in Harper's Bazaar India's April-May 2026 print issue.

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