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Beyond the lehenga: Can New York rethink its Diwali dress code?

Diwali has become a glamorous fixture on New York’s social calendar. For ŌUSHQ and a new generation of South Asian creatives, the bigger opportunity lies in changing how the world sees — and wears — South Asian fashion.

Words by ŌUSHQ Desk

Diwali has always been a reason to dress up for Indians around the world. Now, it is becoming a fixture on the global party calendar, too. From the Cartier X Condé Nast Traveller Diwali Ball in London to Sabyasachi and The Met’s first Diwali reception in New York this year, alongside ŌUSHQ’s annual Diwali Noir, the festival is finding its way into some of fashion’s most coveted social circles.

As Indian culture takes up more space across global fashion, film, music and the arts, Diwali’s growing prominence feels like part of a much bigger shift. The interesting question is no longer just who’s on the guest list, but also how it encourages a shift in South Asian dress codes.

The Diwali party is just the beginning

When it comes to luxury brands tapping into Diwali’s marketing opportunity, much of the action remains in India. Think Jo Malone’s Diwali collaborations with designer Arpita Mehta, Chanel Beauty’s Diwali dinner co-hosted by Ananya Panday, and Esquire India and Michael Kors’ annual Diwali bash, and cocktail parties by brands like Valentino and Burberry. In New York, however, the landscape looks rather different.

“Brands are a little nervous to own Diwali in New York, like they have in India. The scene is currently dominated by noted personalities and their parties,” says Jessel Taank, Founder & CEO of ŌUSHQ. “Brands need to be rooted in a larger message or tied to a partner with cultural relevance. That hasn’t really happened yet.”

Much of the momentum in New York is being driven by the South Asian diaspora, whose Diwali gatherings have become occasions to reconnect with their roots while bringing friends and colleagues from outside the community into the fold. For luxury brands, the opportunity is to join that conversation authentically.

It is a space ŌUSHQ is bridging. In 2025, we partnered with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to co-host Diwali Noir in Manhattan, marking the CFDA’s first formal recognition of Diwali on its fashion calendar. Returning for a second edition this year, the party aims to become a fixture on New York’s fashion and cultural circuit, with fashion itself at the heart of the celebration.

A different kind of Diwali dressing

The intention extends beyond a glamorous evening and a well-dressed guest list. It is about introducing New York to a new generation of South Asian designers who draw on the region’s extraordinary craft traditions without being confined to the familiar territory of bridalwear and occasion dressing. Thereby nudging the evolution from predictable Indian wear that is likely better suited for wedding season. There is, after all, more to South Asian fashion than just a lehenga and polki jewellery set.

“The way festive dressing is shaping up in India has such a contemporary, exciting bent to it. You’re less likely to find people in lehengas and heavy jewellery at Diwali events. There’s a cooler approach to Indian dressing, where people are wearing their culture on their sleeves in more modern ways. It’s something we want to encourage in New York, too,” says Akbar Hamid, Partner at ŌUSHQ.

It is an interesting shift. While Indian designers have spent years reworking heritage techniques through contemporary silhouettes, modern tailoring and experimental embellishment, international perceptions of South Asian fashion — both from within the community and outside it — can remain stubbornly narrow. Beautiful brocades, intricate embroidery and handwoven textiles are often associated with weddings, festivals and ceremonial dressing, when their possibilities extend well beyond them.

The Next Chapter

For the diaspora, these celebrations are about more than getting dressed up and catching up with familiar faces. They create spaces where cultural identity can be expressed on its own terms, and where the next generation can embrace their heritage without feeling obliged to choose between the world they come from and the one they inhabit. They also give the wider fashion community a chance to discover South Asian designers in a context that feels contemporary rather than purely ceremonial.

That is the shift ŌUSHQ hopes to encourage: a way of dressing that brings two worlds together, without making either feel like a compromise. Through Diwali Noir, the platform is using the festival as an entry point to a larger conversation about South Asian fashion, championing its craftsmanship and heritage alongside its irreverence, experimentation and modernity.

Diwali may be the reason to get dressed up. The bigger ambition is to make South Asian fashion part of the conversation long after the last diya has gone out.

Consider an embroidered black sherwani jacket by Faraz Manan, worn with straight-leg jeans, a black shirt and polished leather shoes. Or a sculptural cummerbund by Rimzim Dadu, paired with a crisp white shirt and sharply tailored brocade trousers. A richly woven Indian textile from a local bazaar or borrowed from your mother’s wardrobe, could just as easily be worn with a lace skirt.

The idea is not to Westernize these pieces or dilute their origins. That would be reductive. It is to wear them with the same ease and individuality as anything else in the wardrobe, allowing the craftsmanship to speak for itself. “I think the balance between East and West comes down to knowing what to emphasize. The idea is not to make traditional clothing look Western, but to wear it in a way that feels natural to your life and personal style. That, to me, is what makes this new generation of South Asian fashion so exciting. We can take individual pieces, reinterpret them and give them a place in our wardrobes well beyond Diwali,” adds ŌUSHQ Head of Brand Image & Communications Junaid Mahmood.

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