Indian label Uncooked Mango brings its ‘unripe and imperfect concept of magnificence’ to London Vogue Week

Yesterday morning (23 February 2026), a whole bunch of spherical glass containers lined the parquet ground of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Corridor. Inside them lay tiny garlands of creamy mogra (jasmine) flowers. The vessels marked out the runway for Uncooked Mango’s debut on-schedule London Vogue Week present, ‘It’s Not About The Flower’. The up to date Indian label, based by textile designer Sanjay Garg in 2008, was invited this season by the British Vogue Council’s Laura Weir. Appointed as CEO of the organisation in January final yr, throughout A/W 2026’s opening speech the earlier Friday, she famous that over the previous 12 months, the organisation had been working to reposition London Vogue Week as a platform for artistic ‘international dialogue’, which is definitely broadened by means of the invitation of Uncooked Mango.

It’s a sentiment that Garg reiterates. ‘I do really feel near the town. London’s very cosmopolitan. On any given day, you’ll be able to hear a dozen totally different languages being spoken on the road,’ he informed Wallpaper* forward of the present. He additionally defined that the topic of British imperialism doesn’t get swept below the rug. ‘Folks right here don’t maintain again, whether or not it’s conversations in regards to the nation’s colonial previous or capitalist current. It’s residence to all of those views, which battle with one another. I believe all of those resonate on some degree with Uncooked Mango. There’s an imperfection to it, and I discover that compelling,’ he mentioned.

Uncooked Mango debuts at London Vogue Week

Garg additionally stresses that London had no affect on Uncooked Mango A/W 2026, both conceptually or technically. ‘We now have introduced in London earlier than, and this present is a continuation of that journey,’ he mentioned. ‘For me, a stage is a stage. Presenting in London is nearly as good as presenting in Kanpur. On the finish of the day, it’s the work being introduced that issues. And that doesn’t change in line with who’s viewing it, or the place.’

Chatting with the ‘unripe and imperfect concept of magnificence’, Uncooked Mango blends Garg’s personal ‘curiosities’ with up to date design and textile strategies, transcending centuries of Indian tradition and heritage. Raised within the Rajasthani village of Mubarikpur earlier than relocating to Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, the place he honed his textile design, the model is now primarily based in New Delhi. Although all that it does ‘begins on the weave’, melding up to date design with yarns and artisanal textile strategies that transcend centuries of Indian tradition and heritage. So, collaborations with 1,200 karigars (artisans) from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Varanasi stay at its coronary heart.

Although typically romanticised by western audiences, the flower garland is, as Garg says, ‘easy, utilitarian, and so acquainted it nearly exists throughout the unconscious of Indian visible tradition.’ Accompanying the ‘It’s Not About The Flower’ assortment was a pocket-sized picture e book of the identical title, which had been distributed to the A/W 2026 visitors by way of their seats. ‘I haven’t seen a e book that paperwork this custom of the garland within the Indian subcontinent, so we simply went forward and did it,’ he says. ‘We commissioned varied photographers who travelled the size and breadth of India, capturing the garland and its prevalence in our a number of cultures.’

Right here, the garland is depicted in temples and church buildings; births, deaths, weddings and funerals all function. ‘When somebody buys a brand new automotive, they rejoice it with a garland,’ says Garg. If there’s an vital event within the residence, we place garlands on the doorway; and these garlands will not be at all times simply product of flowers – there are garlands of beads, banknotes, even spices and banana leaves. We wished to rejoice the garland in the identical manner that garlands mark the significance of what holds which means to us. It’s not about one particular person flower; it’s in regards to the plurality. The association, as an alternative of the singular disembodied motif. The weave and the construction, as an alternative of the golden threads on the floor.’

In accordance with Garg, this e book is ‘a glimpse of a bigger undertaking’ but to come back. ‘With out moving into specifics, I can say we’ve quite a lot of issues within the pipeline,’ concludes Garg. ‘Not all of them could also be associated to the “calendar” that trend manufacturers are anticipated to observe. We don’t observe a timeline or trend seasons. Our work is a response to an inner pursuit: what excites us, what must be explored, what holds which means. A few of the issues developing have been in improvement for years, and we are able to’t wait to share them with you.’