Prada Faux Pas

This week, all eyes turned toward Prada—not for a groundbreaking collection or a red carpet moment, but for a controversy that’s got fashion insiders, South Asian creatives, and the internet buzzing louder than Fashion Week after-parties. 

It started with what Prada likely thought was a “globally-inspired” campaign: models draped in rich brocades, golden jhumkas dangling delicately, and silhouettes suspiciously close to lehengas, styled with bindis like they were the season’s new it-accessory. Add a hauntingly beige cast of models, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for Instagram outrage and rightly so. 

The backlash from Indian fashion communities and diaspora voices was swift and cutting. The consensus? This wasn’t a tribute, it was a costume. And in 2025, where cultural literacy should be as integral to design as pattern-cutting, that’s not just tone-deaf, it’s lazy. 

Of course, this isn’t Prada’s first misstep (remember the “blackface” figurines from 2018? We do), and sadly, they’re not alone in their habitual borrowing of “ethnic aesthetics.” Fashion has long had a colonial complex: plucking textiles, silhouettes, and symbols from cultures it doesn’t belong to, remixing them with European polish, and passing them off as avant-garde. Dior did it with Mexican heritage. Marc Jacobs did it with dreadlocks. Chanel did it with Native American headdresses. And on, and on. 

But this time, the blowback feels different. Gen Z isn’t falling for the “we were inspired” PR line. Instead, there’s a growing chorus of creatives—particularly South Asian designers—who are reclaiming their narratives and demanding more than apologies. They want collaboration. Compensation. Credit. 

So while luxury houses swirl in their echo chambers of “artistic freedom,” designers like Kanika Goyal, Rahul Mishra, and Supriya Lele are doing the real work—elevating traditional techniques without stripping them of meaning. Their success proves that authenticity isn’t just ethical, it’s extremely chic. 

Fashion thrives on reinvention. But reinvention doesn’t mean erasure. It means evolution: with intention, with context, and with respect. 

So here’s a memo to the brands still playing dress-up with other people’s cultures: your mood board isn’t above history, and your runway isn’t a passport. Inspiration doesn’t have to be extractive. And in the age of accountability, a poorly placed bindi can cost you more than a bad collection—it can cost you credibility. 

Until next season, we’ll be watching who’s actually doing the work—and who’s just accessorizing it.

XOXO, The Fashion Stock Market

Cover Photo: New York Times

Editor: Felicity Field