TLDR: Designer Ashna Vaswani advocates for a global Khadi movement at the Creative Economy Forum, emphasizing its role as the fabric of freedom and future fashion by blending tradition with modern style and inclusivity.
At the Creative Economy Forum 2025, designer Ashna Vaswani delivered a compelling call to action for India’s fashion community to make Khadi the fabric of the future.
Participating in a panel discussion alongside thought leaders from craft, design, and culture, Vaswani reflected on the evolving relationship between India’s textile legacy and contemporary design innovation. She highlighted how identity, tradition, and modernity are now merging to define the next chapter of India’s fashion story.
Vaswani opened her remarks by acknowledging the shift in cultural consciousness catalysed by digital platforms. “It’s very exciting that now everyone is aware of what’s going on … what the fashion is, what the trend is,” she said. “Along with awareness, there is acceptance.” She noted that where fashion was once rigid and exclusive, today’s generation embraces inclusivity and individuality.
“Fashion is not made only for someone who is 34-24-34. It is for everyone,” she said. “Fashion is a way of expressing yourself, and expression belongs to everyone — not just to a model.”
At the Creative Economic Forum held on November 7, designer Ashna Vaswani offered an insightful reflection on the evolving relationship between India’s textile heritage and the contemporary fashion sensibility of the new generation. Participating in a panel discussion alongside industry voices from craft, design, and culture, Vaswani spoke about how identity, tradition, and innovation are converging in today’s style landscape.
This widening lens, according to Vaswani, has also reshaped how heritage is perceived by younger consumers. Rather than treating tradition as something to be preserved in a fixed form, they are integrating it intuitively into their own personal style language. “The modern generation is accepting culture beautifully, but they are reinventing it in their own way,” she explained. “Someone might wear an heirloom necklace with streetwear, or pair an embroidered jacket with denim. They’re creating their own identity.”
For Vaswani, this relationship with heritage is deeply emotional. “Heritage is an emotion crafted with embroidery,” she reflected. “It is a heartbeat, a history, a memory, a rhythm and it is the craftsmanship that carries these stories forward.” This philosophy forms the foundation of her design process, which prioritizes narrative over trend. “There has to be a story behind the garment. The person wearing it should be able to relate to that story. When they do, the piece becomes meaningful.
Speaking about her recent collection, Devi Drape, Vaswani described how she juxtaposes khadi, Kota doria from Rajasthan, and denim to create a dialogue between the past and the present. “Khadi is the fabric of freedom. Kota Doria represents traditional handcraft. Denim carries a universal appeal. I am not rewriting the past,” she said. “I am having a continuous conversation between our ancestors and the modern world.”
In a forum dedicated to exploring how India’s creative economy can champion cultural continuity while empowering innovation, Vaswani’s perspective stood out for its clarity of purpose: heritage does not need preservation as artifact-it thrives when it becomes lived, worn, interpreted, and made one’s own.
