Friday Sari Project

Participating in London Craft Week has inspired us to create our first ever ‘Craft Futures Sri Lanka Award’ to offer designers and makers from Sri Lanka the opportunity to showcase with us during ‘London Craft Week’ in May.

We are always looking to platform emerging design and heritage craft techniques. It’s taken years of planning to bring our platform to London Craft Week and a unique opportunity to show the talents and crafts of our island.

Thank you for the support in London and Sri Lanka.

Prospective applicants can email [email protected] for further details or dm.

The last time I was in the Royal Horticultural Halls was working on the McQueen show ‘La Poupee’ in 1996. I would never have believed that 30 years on I would return, wearing a sari, to watch an Indian designer stage a landmark show.

Today Raw Mango staged their first show at London Fashion Week on the main schedule. The show, titled ‘It’s Not About the Flower’, stood out in its simplicity and maturity. Minimal cream and black were punctuated with bold colour, statement embroidery and sculptural silhouettes-minimalism distilled.

Sanjay Garg brought us the flowers and garlands of India as forms in their own right, expressed with quiet confidence and humility. It was a strength and clarity he and his team have well earned after 18 years of designing and building the brand.

There was love in the room. Those of us who have followed the brand were excited to see what Sanjay would present, but also confident it would be exquisite and filled with pride to witness Raw Mango on the international stage in London.

Raw Mango arrived at a time when women like myself were searching for something we didn’t yet know existed: a way to combine culture and heritage with modernity and simplicity. This is what Raw Mango has done so well, offering a way to participate in India’s culture and craft with intellectual context.

Sanjay’s creative practice extends throughout the brand from its campaigns, arts and craft presentations, exhibitions and events. Raw Mango stores are designed like retreat spaces, inviting you to quietly experience and honour the craft.

So today was special. How many opportunities do we get to celebrate our culture in this way in this country?

I took my mother, both of us, with our own Raw Mango collections. From the first London sale in 2017 to sitting front row at London Fashion Week, this felt like a full circle moment.

Ten years ago I was searching for a way to wear my heritage in the present. Today, I watched it walk the London runway.

Huge congratulations to the entire team Malika Kashap Verma and sweet Kanupriya.