Arti Sandhu

Arti Sandhu is currently an Associate Professor in the Fashion Program, in the School of Design at DAAP. Prior to this she taught at Columbia College Chicago and Massey University, New Zealand. Originally from India, she studied Fashion Design at N.I.F.T. (New Delhi) and received her Masters in Fashion and Textiles from Nottingham Trent University (U.K.).
 
Her research is centered on contemporary Indian fashion and related design culture. She is the author of Indian Fashion: Tradition, Innovation, Style (Bloomsbury Academic, 2014). She has also published articles on dress and the Indian Diaspora in New Zealand, Indian Streetstyle, the contemporary Indian catwalk, and Indian drag queens. Arti is currently working on research projects relating to the growing discourse around decolonizing fashion studies, the role craft can play in fashioning sustainable design practices and overall well being, and a digital ethnography on social media saree groups.

In addition to her academic research, Arti's artworks, which explore identity and migration, have been exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, the Netherlands, and India. In 2011 she curated the exhibition ZER0-Waste: Fashion Re-Patterned for the Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery in Chicago featuring the groundbreaking work of designers and creatives working with sustainable fashion design strategies. Arti has also been the fashion contributor for Arts Illustrated magazine (Chennai) and occasionally writes for an online column for the digital fashion publication the Voice of Fashion.

 

Peer Reviewed Publications

Sandhu, Arti (2019. ) India’s Digital Drag Aunties: Breaking New Ground Wearing Familiar Fashions .Dress, , Vol 25 (01 ) ,55-73.

Sandhu, Arti (2018. ) The Anti-[Western]-Fashion Show: Re-dressing the Indian Catwalk .About Performance , , No. 16 ,85-105.

Sandhu, Arti (2007. ) Re-constructing Identity: Dilemmas of Diasporic Dress .Context: Journal of the New Zealand Textile and Costume Society, ,

Sandhu, Arti (2007. ) Bling - South Delhi Ishtyle: The Aesthetics of consumption and display of Jewellery in middle class Indian society .On Location: making stories, siting, citing and sighting, ,

Sandhu, Arti (2020. ) The Guilty Pleasures of Saas-Bahu Style .South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, , 43 (2 ) ,355-368

Sandhu, Arti (2020. ) Fashioning Wellbeing Through Craft: A Case Study of Aneeth Arora’s Strategies for Sustainable Fashion and Decolonizing Design .Fashion Practice , , 12 (2 ) ,Pages 172-192

Sandhu, Arti (2022. ) When Sarees Speak: Saree Pacts and Social Media Narratives .Feminist Theory , ,

Sandhu, Arti (2022. ) Less is more: The paradox of minimalism in contemporary Indian fashion .International Journal of Fashion Studies , , 9 (4 ) ,

Cheang, S., Rabine, L., and Sandhu, A (2022. ) Decolonizing Fashion as Process .International Journal of Fashion Studies, , 9 (4 ) ,

Other Publications

Sandhu, Arti (2022. ) Mahila a’ la mode: The auntie-fit croqui .International Journal of Fashion Studies, 9 (2 ) ,

Published Books

Arti Sandhu (2014. ) Indian Fashion: Tradition, Innovation, Style .London, New York , Bloomsbury Academic

Book Chapter

Arti Sandhu (2018 ) Streetstyle vs. Style on the Street? Two Definitions of Indian Street Fashion South Asian Youth Culture and Fashion .IB Taurus

Sandhu, Arti (2021 ) Fashion for a Cause: Crafting an Image of Authenticity and Wellbeing in Indian Fashion Magazines Insights on Fashion Journalism .Routledge

Sandhu, Arti (2024 ) Indian Fashion The Meaning of Dress .Bloomsbury Press

Invited Presentations

Sandhu, Arti (10-2022. ) Saying Saree: Three Ways .Poster House New York, online .

Sandhu, Arti (03-2025. ) Less is More: The Paradox in Contemporary Indian Fashion .Chat Masala Series, South Asian Design Educators Alliance (SADEA), Online.

Paper Presentations

Sandhu, Arti (04-2019. ) When Saris Speak: Sari Pacts and Social Media Narratives .Seattle . Conference. Level:National

Sandhu, Arti (11-2018. ) De-Colonizing Design, Fashioning Well-Being: Contemporary Indian Designers’ Strategies for Sustainable and Ethical Production .Cincinnati Art Museum .

Sandhu, Arti (04-2019. ) Fashioning Well-Being through Anti-Western Fashion: A Case Study on Indian Fashion Designers’ Strategies for Sustainable Fashion Futures .Seattle. Level:National

Sandhu, Arti (03-2018. ) The Guilty Pleasures of Saas-Bahu Style .Brandeis University .

Sandhu, Arti (06-2023. ) Unravelling Narratives: Exposing the Gap between Decolonial Imaginations of Indian Handloom and the Harsh Reality of Artisanal Craft Production .Salt Lake City, Utah .

Sandhu, Arti (11-2018. ) The Anti-[Western]-Fashion Show: Re-dressing the Indian Catwalk .Birmingham, AL.

Sandhu, Arti (10-2014. ) Streetstyle vs. Style on the Street? Two Definitions of Indian Street Fashion .London College of Fashion, London .

Sandhu, Arti (06-2024. ) Decoding Social Media Labor … through becoming a Fashion Influencer?? A report on the highs, lows, effectiveness, and legitimacy of auto-ethnographic research methods on social media .Washington D.C..

Sandhu, Arti (10-2014. ) Crafting a Culture of Difference in Contemporary Indian Fashion .University of Southern Denmark, Kolding.. Level:International

Sandhu, Arti (2009. ) Mix’n’Match: Shaping Contemporary Fashion for Indian Tastes .Lincoln, NE.

Sandhu, Arti (2011. ) Crafting Fashion, Refashioning Craft: An exploration into the relationship between contemporary fashion and craft in India .Material Culture Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton..

Sandhu, Arti (2008. ) Fashionable Bodies - Contemporary Ideals for the Fashionable Indian Female Body .McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal, Canada.

Sandhu, Arti (2008. ) Fashion Design: Desires and Emotions – When fashion students design for emotion .School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong..

Sandhu, Arti (2008. ) Modern Looks - The ‘Fashionable’ Indian Female Body .RMIT, Melbourne, Australia .

Sandhu, Arti (2007. ) Keeping Up with the Kapoors: The performance of fashion and its display in Indian middle-class society .Hofstra University, New York. .

Sandhu, Arti (2007. ) Re-constructing Identity: Dilemmas of Diasporic (Indian) dress – in New Zealand .University of Auckland, New Zealand. .

Sandhu, Arti (2006. ) Bling - South Delhi Ishtyle: The Aesthetics of consumption and display of Jewellery in middle class Indian society .Sydney, Australia.

Sandhu, Arti (02-2020. ) Fashioning India’s Drag “Aunties .Chicago .

Sandhu, Arti (09-2020. ) Wrapped up in the field: Maintaining Ethnographic Distance vs. Being the Appreciative Critic on Social Media .online .

Sandhu, Arti (06-2021. ) Fashion’s Minimalist [Re]Turn: India’s New Wave of Product Purists Remixing Craftivism with the Politics of Dress .Online | Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Sandhu, Arti (04-2025. ) Get Ready with Me [on social media]: Turning sartorial storytelling into social activism .Lexington, KY.

Sandhu, Arti (05-2025. ) Visualizing “Slow” Fashion: Communicating Sustainable Practices through Romanticizing Artisanal Hands .Philadelphia .

Sandhu, Arti (06-2025. ) “#GRWM: A fashion trend or feminist act? Exploring the transformative potential of getting dressed online .Los Angeles .

Academic - arti.sandhu@uc.edu