This concept is not new, specially to those who have above-average historical context. At its peak, India was a major exporter of textiles, spices, art, etc. to the Europeans, so much so that we had to pay the price of having a culture worth stealing by getting colonised for over 200 years. But, the colonisation hasn’t stopped. To this day, there are innumerable instances of Indian origin art, fashion, accessories being colonised and given the affluent ‘Europe Made’ label, because of course-
Europe made= High Quality
South Asia made= Low Quality
But the crowd that is getting affected by this modern day colonisation aren’t you or me or content creators milking content from it though. It’s the karigars, the underpaid workers, the sweatshop employees that suffer. One can argue that with such international exposure, Kolhapuris, for instance, are getting the hype they ‘deserve’. But does that uplift any actual Kolhapuri karigars that work day and night making barely enough wages?
That’s not to say blatant copy and such colonialist mindset shouldn’t be called out. While doing so, we can use our voices to ask for better working conditions, wages and labour rights of the people making these in factories in India, Bangladesh, etc. before the ‘Made in Italy’ stamp is sewed in.
The hypocrisy exists when one calls out brands like Prada for copying Indian products, but at the same time looks down on people investing on Indian made crafts, products instead of an H&M Home table cover. Maybe, the next trendy piece we see on the runway will be ‘Spanish Glass Bangles Stack’ or maybe a Ring-cum-Bracelet combo. Desi-made crafts don’t need ‘exposure’ we need respect, recognition and acknowledgment for what we and our artisans offer.