Vaishali Shadangule marks 25 years with the launch of her men’s line

The historic steps of Mumbai’s Asiatic Library became a living archive of Indian couture last week as Vaishali Shadangule celebrated 25 extraordinary years of her label, Vaishali S. Bathed in the soft glow of the city’s dusk and framed by the library’s neoclassical arches, the showcase stood as a special tribute by one of the world’s only handloom couturiers, to the women who carried Indian weaving traditions from the quiet lanes of Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh to the global runways of Paris and far beyond.

“I have always wanted to do something different and unconventional, which is why I chose the Asiatic — it’s one of Mumbai’s most iconic locations. Valentino showed there 20 years ago and as a brand representing Indian handloom on an international platform, this felt like the right moment for India. To mark 25 years, I wanted a truly distinctive setting and the Asiatic was the most iconic we had. It seemed impossible to stage a show there, but we did it,” Vaishali smiles.

For over two decades, Vaishali Shadangule has pushed handloom far beyond the domains it once occupied. What began as an uncertain journey evolved into a design language that transformed Indian textiles into sculptural couture inspired by nature.

“I studied engineering, but everything changed when I stumbled upon the weavers. Watching them create fabric — their skill, their process, made me realise there was a deeper purpose and a mission that made sense to me. Handloom has given me a second life. Coming from Vidisha and leaving home, my path was entirely different, but I found joy and passion in this craft. This was the turning point of my career,” she reminisces.

Her signature cording techniques, her architectural silhouettes, her insistence on honouring the loom while refusing to be confined by tradition — these are the elements that carried her, with quiet determination, into the rarefied world of Paris Haute Couture Week. They eventually led her to the heart of Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris, where she established her own flagship store, a testament to the global resonance of her work, which, of course, had humble beginnings.

“My journey began with a tiny boutique in the suburbs of Malad, funded by a ₹50,000 bank loan and that was my first milestone. If I fast-forward, the biggest turning point was Paris in 2021. It remains my most memorable moment because it happened during COVID-19, when everything was shut down, travel was restricted and even our stores and workshops couldn’t open,yet we managed to make it happen. We arrived in Paris just a day before the show and still presented our collection,” the couturier recalls.

Before the show began, guests were invited to walk through Beneath the Surface, an evocative art installation displayed at the venue. The images, captured during the designer’s underwater couture expedition in the Andaman Sea, depicted her garments immersed 30 metres below the surface. In the stillness of that submerged world, the ocean mistook her textiles for coral; fish drifted gently around their folds. When the garments resurfaced, the structure held firm, unbroken and the sheen was untouched by the elemental forces they had endured.

“The art walk is metaphorically the purest expression of who I am as a designer, someone who lets handloom breathe, move and live as a natural organism, not as a static garment of yesteryears. The idea was born the day I first dived into the ocean. The underwater world overwhelmed me and I returned home and created an entire collection in one breath. We Indians need to be prouder of our textiles and what I did with them underwater tells a story far beyond me sitting and explaining Indian textiles and my handloom couture to the world. We saw transparent shrimps landing on chanderi weaves and manta rays circling the silhouettes. Nothing broke, frayed, or lost its structure because my fabrics are never blended or compromised. Handloom, when treated with respect, has its own tenacity and spirit. The art walk became a poetic demonstration of this,” she elucidates.

A defining moment of the evening was the world premiere of the Vaishali S Men’s Couture Line, a bold and elegant expansion of the designer’s repertoire.

“Menswear came to me organically, but with a clear internal compass. I knew that if I ever attempted it, it had to uphold the same non-negotiables as my womenswear: handloom only, handmade only, zero blends, sustainable and rooted in India’s heritage draping traditions. Two things aligned at the perfect moment. The 25th anniversary of my brand and my decision to stage my biggest show yet at the iconic Asiatic Library Steps in Mumbai. That is when, the full menswear collection poured out in one seamless creative flow,” the designer reveals.

The debut men’s couture line establishes its core principle clearly: natural materials elevated with metallic threads, heritage drapes and modern silhouettes. Every ensemble hints at India’s textile legacy, from jamdani, maheshwari, chanderi and khun to Murshidabad silks, all interpreted with a sense of Indian contemporary flow.

“Every material I use is an extension of my philosophy — cotton, silk and Indian natural fibres, always handwoven, always pure. With this line, I want men to embrace colours the way women do. The palette boasts greens in multiple textures, muted tones, earthy pigments, mineral shades, metallic threads and more,” she shares.

The night also spotlighted Vaishali's commitment to sustainability through Barcode Tech, a system that embeds digital traceability into couture garments. Each piece carries a discreet code that can be scanned to reveal its full journey, from yar n to loom to atelier, offering an unprecedented level of transparency in luxury fashion.

“Sustainability today is confusing. Many brands claim it without proof. Years ago, I explored blockchain for transparency in textiles, but soon realised its environmental footprint was too heavy. That is when I turned to a simpler but more elegant solution — a barcode technology. By scanning the code on any Vaishali S garment, a wearer can see which villages the fabrics were woven in, which artisans created each component — the full journey of the textile and snippets from the real manufacturing process,” the creative director tells us.

While on the subject of sustainability, she also clarifies a misconception that people still have about couture.

“I feel that couture, as it stands today, is not sustainable — we have a great deal of work to do. If we return to our roots, sustainability comes naturally. We must be deeply conscious of what we create. Working with handmade fabrics and handwoven textiles is, in itself, a slower and more thoughtful process. Anything made by hand is valued more; you cherish it, you don’t discard it and you pass it on to the next generation. This, to me, is the way forward: plasticfree, synthetic-free and rooted in mindful choices — especially in couture,” she notes.

Today, Vaishali earns recognition, not just as a designer who has spent 25 years championing the loom but also spotlights artisans whose skills, families and histories are woven into her creations. Her label supports more than 4,500 weaving families across India, enabling reverse migration and sustaining generational artistry in regions from Assam to Maharashtra to Karnataka. She is celebrated across the world as the first woman of Indian origin to be invited to showcase at the Paris Haute Couture Week and yet, her idea of luxury is as rooted as her philosophies.

“If you look back at our history, people once waited for what they commissioned. A single sari for a royal family — if a maharani asked for a particular chand design, it would be created for her and that is how traditions like the chanderi evolved, so much of our textile history was shaped. That, to me, is true luxury: something made exactly for you, entirely by hand. I believe this is the future — handmade Indian crafts are the real expression of luxury. And I must say, nature is my true inspiration and Mother Nature and India will always be protected and celebrated by Vaishali S,” the founder signs off.

₹85,000 onwards. Available online.

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