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Indian craftsmanship and artistry is making its way to mainstream fashion in the West, and one such brand is clothing company Past Modern. Founder Shivang Chandna, who went to college in the U.S., returned back to the states to host a pop-up for the brand in New York City at the end of June.
Chandna realized his interest in fashion designing when he moved back to India for six months during the pandemic, and started designing clothing after watching videos on how to sew. Chandna used bandhani and other Indian ethnic prints to make simple shirts for himself — when he came back to Michigan for his junior year of college and started wearing those shirts around campus, other students were curious about his designs.
“In the U.S., Indian textiles aren’t seen in a common setting, and Indian textiles have such beautiful textures and colors to them, so people started asking me where I got them from, and I said I made it myself.”
From then, Chandna started receiving orders from other students, and realized that he could showcase India’s fashion to the world. He decided to move back to India after college and understand the supply chain of starting a fashion company, and two years later Past Modern was born in 2024.
When Past Modern launched, the brand’s first reel got over 300 thousand views, and for Chandna, he felt that was an amazing indication that people would be interested in purchasing his products, however, that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“At first, the product wasn’t as accessible and it was expensive, and it takes people time to trust an online brand — they want to see it on other people, they want to understand if it’s an actual company or not.”
Currently, the discussion around cultural appropriation with Indo-Western clothing and jewelry has been filled with a variety of opinions, with several first-generation Indian Americans frustrated with the lack of credit given to Indian culture and artists for Indo-Western clothing now being made by brands like Ralph Lauren and Zara. For Chandna, he believes that there’s a duality in appropriation vs. appreciation when creating Indo-Western clothing as an Indian himself.
“There is so much beauty in India that hasn’t been translated into modern fashion – it’s high time that we manufacture our own clothing as our own narrative and with the summer in Ibiza trend, etc., all of these things are re-affirmation that India needs to build its own vocabulary in fashion.”
Chandna hosted the first Past Modern pop up in New York City on June 28, with several South Asian influencers and content creators in attendance in addition to a line of customers.
“It was scary, but we tried sharing our story as much as we can. We had close to 1400 sign-ups of which about 600 people showed up. It was supposed to start at 12 p.m., but there were people outside at 11:20 a.m. From 11:30 a.m. to about 6:30 in the evening, I did not have a chance to sit down.”
For Chandna, being amidst his consumer base on the ground gave him the opportunity to see his consumer base and the event went beyond his expectations.
“Now, when I go back to India, I want to double down on our craft and expand what we’ve been building. Being here has given me feedback on what kind of product design works better in the U.S. — how people dress here and India, there are minor differences.”
Since the pop-up, Chandna has received several messages asking for him and the team to pop up in other locations around the U.S., and he’s hoping to expand Past Modern to those locations.
