From Givenchy to Balenciaga: 5 Times The Good Old Sari Was Put On The World Map

Unless you live under a rock, chances are you have already seen (and gushed over) the beauty ofIsha Ambani’s Schiaparelli sari. For her brother Anant’s pre-wedding festivities, she wore a custom Schiaparelli sari designed by Daniel Roseberry that instantly became iconic for more than one reason. Not only was it a stunning sari with its beautiful structured blouse, vibrant blue and gigantic keyhole brooch, but the fact that a Schiaparelli did a sari was noteworthy.

From wearing the first-ever Valentino lehenga for her wedding reception in 2018 to wearing a Schiaparelli sari for her brother’s pre-wedding festivities, not much about Isha Ambani’s style game has changed. While the Valentino lehenga was the first of its kind, the House of Schiaparelli had done a sari before, designed by Elsa Schiaparelli herself. In 1935, she took inspiration from Sita Devi, Princess Karamjit Singh of Kapurthala to design a collection of gowns inspired by the sari. It's truly amazing to see global luxury fashion houses pay homage to the sari. Here's looking back at the times global luxury design houses got inspired by the sari.

The impact of the sari on global designers

Jean Paul Gaultier

Jean Paul Gaultier has always been very expressive about his love for India. For its Fall 2017 Haute Couture collection, the brand derived inspiration from India yet again and reimagined the sari through not one, but several looks. Two looks in particular were amalgamations of the sari and the tuxedo. Only Jean Paul Gaultier could have pulled off something like that.

Fun Fact: Years later, Sonam Kapoor wore a version of the tuxedo sari for Jean Paul Gaultier’s final couture show in 2020!

Hermès

For its Spring 2008 Ready-to-Wear Collection, Hermès did a bunch of looks inspired by the sari. Given that the brand’s creative director at the time was Jean Paul Gaultier, we can’t say that we’re surprised.

Alexander McQueen

One can easily say that there’s nothing remotely innovative that happens in fashion that hasn’t already been done by McQueen! For the Fall 2008 collection, Alexander McQueen paid homage to Indian heritage through one of the looks. It featured a traditional red silk sari, although draped in a contemporary manner. Lee McQueen often paid homage to his Scottish heritage through his collections, but his referencing the Indian Heritage by taking Inspiration from the sari was unprecedented, and a moment in history.

Balenciaga

Cristóbal Balenciaga created several versions of the ‘sari dress’ over the years. In 1961, he created a pink gown inspired by the sari dress. He created another version of the sari dress in 1963 which was much closer to an actual sari as compared to the one that he had previously created. One of Balenciaga’s most notable sari moments, however, was in 1964, when Elizabeth Taylor was seen wearing a Balenciaga sari dress at The Gala of Lido. Although Balenciaga created a bunch of sari dresses in the 1960s, the one that Elizabeth Taylor wore continues to be the most memorable one.

Givenchy

Hubert de Givenchy’s contributions to the World of fashion are unparalleled. The Givenchy Little Black Dress from Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains iconic to this day, and rightfully so. However, he gave us another iconic fashion moment that often gets overlooked. In a party sequence in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, he put Audrey Hepburn in a sari (which was in fact a bedsheet but draped like a sari). To say that she stood out in the party would be an understatement. While there were no clear references to the sari, it was clear there could have been no other inspiration. And that’s how Hubert de Givenchy became one of the first designers to introduce Hollywood to the sari.