The South Asian influence in modern-day pop culture is undeniable, yet it often goes uncredited and unrecognized when adopted by Western audiences. If you are active on social media, you have likely seen floods of influencers and celebrities using South Asian traditions, particularly in fashion and beauty niches, without acknowledging the traditions’ origins or the communities behind them. Henna, for example, has been rebranded from a longstanding Indian ritual to a trendy beach activity for teenage girls, sometimes renamed “temporary tattoos” as BIHS junior Avisha Teneja notes. Hair oiling and yoga, also long rooted in Indian tradition, are now staples of the “clean girl lifestyle.” South Asian influence on jewelry is almost always marketed as “boho” to Western audiences, even including pieces like maang tikkas and toe rings.
Beyond trends targeted towards young adults, the uncredited usage of South Asian fashion trends persists in many of the highest rooms in the fashion world. In 2025, during Milan Fashion Week, Prada eight hundred dollar debuted open-toe, braided-leather sandals that were immediately recognized as replicas of the traditional Kolhapuri chappal — handmade footwear originating in Maharashtra and Karnataka, India. “It’s very exploitative of South Asian traditions because it doesn't allow South Asian brands to control their own product,” Taneja said. “It takes away business from artisans, and it also allows powerful companies to change the narrative around what a thing is by making lower-quality versions of a product.”
Another recent example is dupattas: long, sheer scarves used in South Asia for modesty and fashion. Dupattas gained popularity as a wedding guest style under the name of “Scandinavian” scarves. These lightweight scarves bear no clear inspiration from any warm, woolly Scandinavian styles, demonstrating a lack of care in fashion naming and the misrepresentation of not one, but two cultures by many American influencers. This “rebranding” becomes extremely problematic, as the average consumer of this content, likely unfamiliar with these styles, will unknowingly become complacent about stripping the origins of these pieces and will start referring to them by incorrect westernized names.
Another case is the “Boho” or “Boho chic” style. It originated in the mid 2000s but faced a resurgence as a mainstream style in early 2024 following Chloé’s fashion show, which featured and has been prevalent on social media since. However, Boho’s emphasis on flowy clothing in addition to the incorporation of retro patterns, natural fabrics, open-toed sandals, and statement accessories is yet another example of Indian-derived ancient traditions being rebranded as something “hippie” or “alternative”, all the while being devoid of any credit to the culture of origin.
To be clear, it is not inherently wrong for American brands and individuals to adopt South Asian fashion influences. Fashion, like all elements of culture, is constantly evolving, and cultural exchange is inevitable in a world that’s becoming increasingly globalized. The problems only arise when that inspiration goes uncredited, as is so often the case with anything South Asian. Taneja recounted an experience where she was told she had done her henna wrong. “I was quite shocked because I obviously grew up learning and doing henna, and she had just started a little bit ago,” Taneja said. “She clearly didn’t know that I, as a South Asian girl, would likely know much more about henna than her because she probably didn’t fully understand that henna was a South Asian thing.”
Even worse than erasure are the implications it carries. Many high-end brands treat design associated with South Asian culture as less desirable or luxurious, reflecting longstanding bigoted ideas about places like India being impoverished and underdeveloped. In contrast, these same brands celebrate and explicitly credit influences from European or East Asian cultures, marketing them as sophisticated or novel. Refusal to challenge these outdated and hateful perspectives in favor of a short-term profit is why designer brands continue to appropriate South Asian culture without any ounce of credit until they are in danger of “getting canceled.”
“Cultural appropriation and culture appreciation are two distinct things,” Taneja said. Consumers play a role in deciding which one they support. By paying attention to where trends come from and who gets credited for them, society can push fashion towards being more respectful and inclusive.