Ralph Lauren backlash

Ralph Lauren is facing online backlash after shoppers spotted a wrap skirt described as inspired by “traditional Bandhini tie-dyed techniques and motifs,” with no mention of India. (indianexpress.com) The item appears on Ralph Lauren’s website as a “Print Cotton Wrap Skirt” priced at $398 in the United States, while Indian coverage pegged the price at ₹44,800. The product copy says the cotton skirt is printed, not hand tie-dyed, and calls the design “Bandhini”-inspired. (ralphlauren.com, indianexpress.com) Bandhani, also called Bandhej or Bandhini, is a resist-dye textile tradition in India made by tying thousands of tiny points in cloth before dyeing it to create dotted patterns. The Indian Express said the craft dates back centuries and is closely associated with Rajasthan and Gujarat. (indianexpress.com) The argument online is not only about resemblance. Critics said the brand named the technique but did not credit Indian artisans, and several posts contrasted the luxury price with the fact that the garment is a printed skirt rather than a hand-made Bandhani textile. (ndtv.com, wionews.com) The skirt dispute landed weeks after Ralph Lauren’s Fall 2026 show in Paris drew similar scrutiny over bell-shaped earrings that viewers identified as jhumkas. In show materials cited by multiple outlets, the accessories were described as “authentic vintage accessories,” which fueled a second debate over naming and sourcing. (brut.media, indianexpress.com) That sequence placed Ralph Lauren inside a broader Paris Fashion Week argument about how luxury brands use South Asian dress codes, jewelry, and textiles on global runways. News18 and Financial Express both linked the jhumka discussion to a wider question: whether fashion houses should explicitly identify the cultural origins of designs that closely mirror traditional crafts. (news18.com, financialexpress.com) Indian commentators also folded the episode into a longer pattern of runway disputes involving Indian craft references. The Indian Express pointed to last year’s backlash over Prada and Kolhapuri-style footwear as another case in which recognition for local makers became part of the story. (indianexpress.com) As of the latest product pages and reports published on April 20 and April 21, 2026, Ralph Lauren’s skirt description still referenced “Bandhini” inspiration, and the coverage reviewed here did not include a public response from the company. The fight, for now, is centered on one familiar fashion question: who gets named when a traditional craft becomes a luxury product. (ralphlauren.com, indianexpress.com, ndtv.com)