Book launch for Luxury Indian Fashion: A Social Critique

Dr Tereza Kuldova, Post-doctoral Researcher for the Enterprise of Culture, recently launched her new book Luxury Indian Fashion: A Social Critique at the Historical Museum in Oslo.

The book is based on Tereza’s PhD thesis in addition to further research undertaken as part of the Enterprise of Culture project, during which she had a chance to go into more depth and rework the thesis into a book manuscript.

Published by Bloomsbury, this unique ethnographic investigation examines the role that fashion plays in the production of the contemporary Indian luxury aesthetic.

Tracking luxury Indian fashion from its production in village craft workshops via upmarket design studios to fashion soirées, Kuldova investigates the Indian luxury fashion market's dependence on the production of thousands of artisans all over India, revealing a complex system of hierarchies and exploitation.

In recent years, contemporary Indian design has dismissed the influence of the West and has focused on the opulent heritage luxury of the maharajas, Gulf monarchies and the Mughal Empire. Luxury Indian Fashion argues that the desire for a luxury aesthetic has become a significant force in the attempt to define contemporary Indian society.

From the cultivation of erotic capital in businesswomen's dress to a discussion of masculinity and muscular neo-royals to staged designer funerals, Luxury Indian Fashion analyzes the production, consumption and aesthetics of luxury and power in India. Luxury Indian Fashion is essential reading for students of fashion history and theory, anthropology and visual culture.

The book launch took place on 8 April at Oslo’s Historical Museum. Speakers at the event included Øivind Fuglerud (Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo), Thomas Hylland Eriksen (Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Oslo) and Principal Investigator for the Enterprise of Culture project, Dr Véronique Pouillard.

Véronique Pouillard said:

"Critiques of luxury are a fast developing academic field. In her fascinating study, Tereza Kuldova explores the multifaceted relations of the Indian elites with the contemporary world of fashion. She takes the reader along a path that goes from Bollywood to the sites of wealthy marriages and to the workshops. In so doing, she reveals that alienation is not always where one would think.

“This book is also a powerful and provocative evocation of the political charge that resides in fashion practices."

Further information about the book can be found on the publisher’s website.