Aisha Rao didn’t need a panel to prove her point. Long before she stepped onto Conscious Effort India’s Reviving Heritage — The Modern Language of Indian Craftsmanship stage for a panel discussion with Archana Rao and Saachi Bahl at The Quorum, her designs had already demonstrated how tradition can be playful, sustainable, and strikingly modern. On that platform, she simply articulated what her craft has expressed for years.
“Reviving heritage is about keeping craft alive while making it relevant for today’s generation,” she told CE, emphasising that appliqué and hand embroidery have always formed the backbone of her design vocabulary. She recalled a Canadian-Punjabi mother and daughter bonding over one of her lehengas — the mother saw echoes of her vintage tissue wedding outfit, while the daughter saw something entirely contemporary. “That moment, where heritage evokes memory and becomes part of someone’s personal story, is exactly why we do what we do,” Aisha reflected.
For her, Indian craft is not a relic but a dynamic, forward-moving force — one she feels Hyderabad is increasingly ready to embrace. “Hyderabad is finding a balance between heritage and modernity,” she said, noting how today’s buyers seek individuality, craftsmanship, and intention over fleeting trends. The city’s textile legacy and evolving design sensibilities shape her work: “Being here allows me to draw from its heritage while designing for a modern audience that seeks pieces that honour tradition yet feel intentional and contemporary.”
Fresh off the India Couture Week runway, Rao’s latest collection, Wild at Heart 2.0, crystallises her evolving craft language; a space where structure meets softness, where whimsy is precise, and where bold colour is carefully disciplined.
A key technical challenge lay in reconciling fabrics with contrasting personalities. “Raw silks and dupions want to hold shape, while organzas and tulles want to move, and then we added corsetry to the mix,” she explained.
Colour became another active playground. Alongside her signature palette, this season introduced teaberry, lush green, and metallics across menswear and womenswear; shades honed through rigorous testing. “It’s demanding, but that constant fine-tuning is the most exciting part of the creative process,” she said.
Though her aesthetic is often associated with whimsy, Aisha insists it is rooted in restraint — exuberance executed with intention. Her signature appliqué began as a sustainable decision to use every scrap of fabric, a practice that evolved into a defining craft language. “The foundation began with upcycled appliqué using 12–13 colours of waste fabric, and that naturally shaped our playful, collage-driven language,” she shared. As the atelier expanded, so did the complexity of the craft. A lehenga in Wild at Heart 2.0 features more than 70 colours. “No one colour dominates; every hue is placed with intention so the piece feels joyful and abundant, but never overwhelming,” she expressed.
Wild at Heart 2.0 expands her textural universe with fresh techniques. Aisha introduced crystals and beadwork; not for bridal sparkle, but for subtle depth. “It’s an extension of appliqué, not an add-on,” she clarified. The team also experimented with raffia. “It allowed us to build soft, tactile layers over our appliqué, giving the surfaces a more intricate finish without adding weight,” she added.
Her exploration of Banarasi textiles continues, this time in lighter, more wearable forms paired with organza, nets, and raw silks. Appliqué, however, remains the soul of her brand — both a sustainable choice and a storytelling device since 2018. “We chose appliqué to create a couture language that was conscious, playful, and expressive — allowing us to repurpose fabric while creating texture, depth, and story,” Aisha narrated.
What distinguishes her aesthetic is the layered interplay between appliqué and embroidery. “Thread, beads, sequins — each defines edges, adds shading, and creates dimensional surfaces. Each season sees reinvention through transparency, layering, scale, or motif structure. For us, appliqué is a storytelling tool. It lets whimsy and craft coexist,” she shared.
Hyderabad, she says, shapes her design vocabulary as deeply as her work influences the city’s couture culture. Its textiles, embroidery traditions, and artisanal networks offer a rich ecosystem, while its increasingly design-literate clientele encourages experimentation. “Hyderabad gives us the freedom to reinterpret heritage in a modern context. It’s no longer about choosing between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ — it’s where both coexist,” said Aisha.
From Allu Arjun and Ayushmann Khurrana to Rashmika Mandanna and Rakul Preet Singh, Aisha Rao has dressed a diverse roster of celebrities. She approaches these collaborations with sensitivity. “Our role is to translate each individual’s presence and energy into something wearable while remaining true to our aesthetic. When someone wears our garment and feels completely like themselves, it reassures us that our work has an emotional reach,” she noted.
For Aisha, revival and innovation are inseparable. Whether through unconventional materials, new colour vocabularies, or silhouette engineering, craft remains the foundation. “Innovation isn’t about novelty; it’s about ensuring traditional craft evolves and thrives in a modern design language,” Aisha concluded.