Craft remains at the heart of our couture
Founded in 2014, Matsya was conceived not as a brand but as a journey—a vision to create a lifestyle where heritage and modernity co-exist in harmony. Blending minimalism with grandeur, Matsya celebrates a philosophy of ‘Modern Royalty’, making luxury accessible yet aspirational. Its storytelling couture has unfolded through collections such as The Runaway Princess, Rise of the Queen, and Memoirs of the Rajkumari, while its ‘Tribute’ projects revive and contemporarise crafts like Kantha, Bandhej, and Phulkari. At the heart of Matsya lies a commitment to preserving heritage, innovating with craft, and creating a global identity rooted in responsible luxury. Speaking to Fibre2Fashion, Founder Utkarsh Ahuja shares the brand’s journey, philosophy, and vision for the future.
Matsya began as a journey rather than a brand. Looking back since 2014, how has this philosophy shaped the way Matsya has evolved?
The idea of a journey was to create a way of life. Our community has grown with us, evolved with us, and over time has helped us build ‘Matsya Living,’ which will shape Matsya into the global brand we envision it to be.
Your storytelling collections—from ‘The Runaway Princess’ to ‘Memoirs of the Rajkumari’—carry a strong sense of heritage and identity. What role does the narrative play in defining Matsya couture?
We started out as a women’s couture brand, and my vision was always to empower the person we were creating for. It was always about her—embracing and enabling the contemporary state of mind of the modern woman who values heritage and modernity equally. The aim was to create a paradigm of freedom from tradition without losing respect for it, giving her wings while keeping the roots strong. In this way, we have evolved craft so that the art is not lost, while creating a visual identity that remains relevant to an evolved customer, shaping the ‘Modern Royalty’ aesthetic we proudly project.
The ‘Tribute’ projects highlight revival of regional crafts like Kantha, Bandhej, and Phulkari. How do you balance modern couture aesthetics with the responsibility of sustaining these traditional crafts?
I have always been a strong believer in the ‘economic sustainability’ of craft, which can only be achieved by contemporarising it and creating long-term relevance. It is about how we use the craft, rather than forcing traditional methods alone. That is the intention behind the Tribute projects, and with pride I can say we have successfully brought many of these crafts back into the mainstream of everyday fashion. Through our wider channels, especially Bandhej and Kantha have been glorified and worn in new ways, enhancing their sustainability quotient. The challenge lies in evolving couture so that it complements the craft and gives it a respectful place in the garment, without overpowering either the brand or the craft itself—a balance we have achieved. For instance, we paired Kantha with gota patti, Bandhej with mirror-centric zardozi, and Phulkari with fine resham and dori, ensuring each craft is presented in a contemporary yet respectful way.
Sustainability and craft revival are key themes in your work. How do you see Matsya contributing to both preservation of heritage and meeting contemporary expectations of responsible luxury?
Craft remains at the heart of our couture, and I believe that running a profitable business is the simplest way to create sustainable ecosystems that consistently support the crafts we use. Equally important is ensuring that these crafts are contemporarised to keep them relevant. Luxury, in my view, should be consumed carefully and consciously. At Matsya, we strive to create products and value price points that allow us to be responsible not only on the customer side but also in production. This is why we are taking Matsya Living forward gradually. Our aim is not to chase marketing-driven fads, but to build a sustainable community that discovers the brand, enjoys engaging with it, and stays with us for a lifetime. This allows us to be more responsible in our endeavour, with a growth curve that is value-driven rather than trend-driven.
What challenges do designers face in keeping traditional craftsmanship relevant for modern audiences?
I believe the main challenge lies in cultural understanding and in anticipating the direction in which your audience’s lifestyle is evolving. Designers must remain conscious of giving people the freedom to express their individuality while staying true to the brand’s values. Once a strong value association is established with your community, the craft remains relevant—because you cannot cater to everyone.
In collections like ‘The Storytellers’ and ‘Noir e Blanc,’ you have combined experimental textiles with historical inspirations. What does innovation mean to Matsya in the context of heritage fashion?
For us, innovation exists in two spaces. The first is evolving couture techniques to create visually innovative craft, bringing novelty to how we use couture. The second lies in the artistic side of inspiration—such as drawing from the Masai Mara or Tuscan villas for bridal lehengas—where we create story-centric canvases that are truly exotic, and then apply innovative craft to bring them to life.
How do you define luxury for the new generation of urban Indians?
I think, for the new generation, luxury will soon be in the uncommon, not in the over produced. It will be in experiences they can narrate, and ideologies they can align with.
How is the Indian couture industry adapting to the growing demand for sustainable and ethical fashion?
I think, the Indian couture industry has always centred around sustainability without really speaking about it. The Indian diaspora has always valued natural and pure fabrics, which is honest couture. And the usage of craft has always created more economic sustainability. The surge in disposable income and higher payouts for couture has helped designers pay crafts people better, that adds to the ethical language of how we do business.
How do you see the role of Indian couture evolving in the global luxury fashion landscape?
I think Sabyasachi, Rahul Mishra and Gaurav Gupta have broken the glass ceiling for India to be looked at as a source of luxury. We have access to textile, couture tailoring and hand embroidery-oriented craft that is truly only possible here in the volume that we do it. Nowhere in the world do you have so much available in such excellent standards. It will, of course, take a lot of investment, courage and relentless pursuit to add much more of India to the global luxury consumption. That said, I believe India will be the home of New Luxury—rooted in heritage and value-driven rather than brand recognition. This, I feel, is the next growth space in global luxury, moving away from mass-produced aspirational products.
In what ways is digital media reshaping consumer engagement with luxury and couture brands?
Digital media has made it easier for brands to reach wider audiences who once relied solely on brick-and-mortar discovery, while also helping build visual positioning that previously took much longer to establish. It is also accelerating decision-making, as today’s consumers often know what they want before entering a store. I believe it enables initial engagement with a brand even before touching the product, without needing the full 360-degree luxury experience once craved.
Matsya is now stepping into the lifestyle segment with Home & Living. What inspired this transition from wardrobe to home, and how does it carry forward your brand philosophy of Modern Royalty?
For me, the vision for Matsya has always been to build a larger-than-life global brand. We experimented with the home and lifestyle space from the very beginning, but running a business means managing priorities—finance, supply chain, and most importantly, market readiness. Our couture was always contemporary, yet its acceptance into mainstream culture took time, and we stood our ground aesthetically. We waited for the brand to mature and the market to be ready, and we felt this was the right moment. Specifically, when it comes to interiors and couture, I believe one cannot exist without the other—it is like needing the right museum for the right piece of art; otherwise, it never truly finds its value.
How do you ensure coherence between couture and lifestyle while still appealing to global sensibilities?
It begins with how we envision the Matsya Lifestyle. Couture is not just about craft—it is about luxurious materials, attention to detail, consistency of quality, and creating value around a certain way of living. These core philosophies remain the same for both Matsya Couture and Matsya Living. In both, we are not simply reusing old crafts but innovating with them, taking unusual inspirations and placing them on a canvas of Modern Royalty. The global appeal comes from adapting this philosophy to how people live and celebrate life today, across the world. Our community in India is now expanding internationally, serving clients who appreciate silk, Egyptian cotton, Irish linen, platinum on bone china, crystal glassware, and embellishments dipped in gold and silver. As we take Matsya global, we are clear about who we are competing with, and we are uplifting our standards of luxury—across experience, packaging, and presentation—to match global benchmarks.
Looking ahead, what can we expect from Matsya’s next chapters—both in fashion and lifestyle? Do you see Matsya expanding further into international markets or new categories?
Matsya Living already includes ready-to-wear, handbags, jewellery, soft furnishings, and dinnerware, and our objective is to gradually stabilise each of these verticals. International expansion will follow once the product is firmly established in India. We already cater to several nationalities through personal shopping at our Khan Market store, and once strong communities are built in each country, we will begin creating retail experiences globally. Our products are already loved by non-Indian clients in France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, the Middle East, Japan, and beyond. We plan to first deepen our presence online and then establish experience centres as the next step.
