Raw mango

Questioning place and perspective, Raw Mango draws from the vibrant philosophies and cultures of India, and is acknowledged for creating a new design lexicon within contemporary India.

With roots in craft and community, Raw Mango’s relationship with handloom began in 2008 as an investigation of possibilities across a range of saris, garments and objects. Created with weavers across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Varanasi, Raw Mango’s designs innovate upon centuries-old skills in pursuit of defining a new aesthetic vocabulary.

Raw Mango remains committed to documenting craft and regional realities, bypassing the prevailing romanticised notions of authorship. Whether through its archival textile collection or regional films each documents the craft of weaving, food or musicality as an outcome of a life lived.

The name means many things — I love the pungent taste of raw mango, and the contrast of flavours and color. It speaks to the idea of beauty as imperfect and unripe. No one grows up in India without knowing this taste. Also, it is like the paisley motif — present across India and not identified with one particular place.

By Sanjay Garg

Raw Mango’s design philosophy involves measured interventions within traditional practices—be it design, material, tools, technique or color.

The perspectives incorporated within the brand are shaped by the personal expression of founder Sanjay Garg. Our aesthetic sensibilities, preferences and commentaries are always in dialogue with issues that emerge within society. This philosophy of design articulates itself across each touchpoint—extending beyond textile and garments. Film, music, image-making, events—each medium of communication is an opportunity to tell a story rooted in culture, heritage and history.

As a design house, Raw Mango remains fearless, pursuing the space and generative tension between convention, form and innovation.

Raw Mango deliberately chooses unconventional locations, often former residential spaces, for its stores reflecting our fascination with culture and context. All of the brand’s spaces evolve from approaches often decided by the structure we're occupying, without a pre-conceived format or style.

The spatial design of Raw Mango’s spaces involves in-house prototyping and development of lighting, fixtures, flooring and custom finishes. The Hyderabad store has an unmistakable modernist presence. Raw Mango Chennai is housed in an old residential bungalow with unique and overlapping architectural styles and a sense of warmth.

Alongside garments and collections, Raw Mango stores place objects in areas of prominence. Antiques, curiosities, figurines collected from travels across India and the world or crafted by the brand to enhance the in-store experience—each is a reflection of the brand’s aesthetic and personality.

Our design approach for each store is unique, without relying on previous templates. Raw Mango deliberately chooses unconventional locations, often reminiscent of heritage architecture, reflecting the brand's mindset.

The design responds to the specific history and context of each space, creating an environment that shares Raw Mango's fascination with cultural markers in the layers of human habitation, religion, and lifestyle that have shaped each location over time.

By Adityan Melekalam, 
Founder, Squadron 14

‘TEXTILE DESIGNER’, Sanjay’s title of choice, also remains the genesis of the brand.

Innovations on the loom, as 2D design interventions, birthed a new era for women draped in handwoven saris. Prior, there was no identifiable marker of contemporary design and craft within a brand offering.

Trained in textile design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi, and the Indian Institute of Crafts & Design (IICD), Jaipur, Sanjay's work draws from lived experience. A self-confessed ‘fashion outsider,’ Sanjay is a revivalist as much as he is a rebel. The brand’s cult following, amassed over sixteen years, is drawn to not only its distinct aesthetic, but to its unique ability to mix fashion with cultural inquiry.

Sanjay's perspective places every human body as a canvas for expression, intentional or otherwise. In an age when our garments are simultaneously extensions of our audience's identities and their personal shields, Sanjay's work focuses on designing pieces that question the fundamentals.

Design is a way of a life - everything we see or do has a role to play. The idea is to cater to something more than what meets the eyes.

By Sanjay Garg

Inspired by Gandhian values of self-sufficiency, Raw Mango's decentralized business model is one that prioritizes minimum interference, minimum extraction and minimum waste.

We work only with what we need. This philosophy of restraint extends beyond product—we avoid over-design, over-packaging and over-production. Nothing is mass-produced. From studio to storefront, we've worked to eliminate excess from fashion.

The primary working principle at Raw Mango is that craft does not belong in factories. This sets our work apart from the wider Indian fashion industry. Every addition to our craft repertoire is thoughtful, rooted in months of fieldwork, dialogue, and mutual respect.

Every fabric we use is created at its point of origin, within communities and clusters that have nourished their techniques for generations. Our approach ensures that economic value flows directly to these clusters. Our logistics run on low-impact systems, and a few of newer textiles are woven from reformed single-use plastic bottles.

This is not about surface-level sustainability. It’s about changing how fashion is made, who it serves, and what it stands for. The decentralised model enables artisans to work on their own terms, with better pay and more autonomy.