An end of an era for fashion economy as Meher Castelino passes away
18 December 2025, Mumbai
The passing of Meher Castelino on December 17, 2025, at the age of 81, marks more than the loss of India’s first Femina Miss India; it signifies the end of an era for a $110 billion fashion and lifestyle economy she helped institutionalize. While the 1964 crown made her a national icon, her true impact lay in transitioning Indian fashion from unorganized tailoring to a global powerhouse. Today, as India’s apparel market is projected to reach $146.3 billion by 2032, the analytical foundation Castelino laid through decades of reportage remains the industry's primary archival compass.
Bridging the ‘K-shaped’ sector divide
As the retail landscape navigates a complex ‘K-shaped’ recovery, Castelino’s work consistently championed the ‘middle’ of the market - where heritage craftsmanship meets commercial scalability. Current data shows, while luxury segments grew by 36 per cent recently, the broader ethnic wear sector, which she meticulously chronicled, is undergoing a massive ‘brand-ification.’ Digital disruptors in this space are now projected to grow at a 35 per cent CAGR, reaching $10 billion by 2028. Castelino’s early advocacy for fashion as a ‘serious industry’ rather than mere celebrity glamour provided the intellectual framework for this modern, data-driven expansion.
The ‘Castelino Effect’ is most visible in the professionalization of Indian fashion weeks. Since 2006, her role as the lead writer for Lakmé Fashion Week ensured that emerging designers from Sabyasachi to Masaba Gupta were documented with technical precision. Her foresight in digitizing her vast body of work- spanning over 160 publications - ensures that even as AI and 3D printing transform retail, the industry’s roots in hand-block printing and "ethnic chic" remain accessible. Her legacy survives through an industry that now contributes 5% to India’s GDP, proving her lifelong thesis: fashion is the ultimate mirror of a nation's cultural and economic progress.
Castelino’s debut in Eve’s Weekly in 1973 shifted the focus from gossip to business-centric fashion analysis. Her seminal books, Manstyle (1987) and Fashion Kaleidoscope (1994), provided the first academic-grade records of Indian sartorial trends.
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