India, April 14 -- Art breathes life into every stitch, with designers finding a muse in paintings to shape their creative vision. A new wave of designers are drawing inspiration from Indian folk art forms like Gond (Madhya Pradesh), Kalamkari (Andhra Pradesh) and Patua Pattachitra (West Bengal).

Mumbai-based designer Aarti Vijay Gupta's recent collection at London Fashion Week was a nod to Kalighat and Patua paintings. "Traditional artists are often swallowed up in the global conversation, so to be able to spotlight their work feels special. I wanted to rephrase the unbalanced narrative around the representation of Indian art through this collection, using the old to make new," she says.

Kalamkari, a beloved traditional art form seen i...