India, March 7 -- When he stepped into Sudheer Rajbhar's studio on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi wanted to know everything about the design brand, its moment in the sun when pop star Rihanna draped herself across one of its creations, a burnt orange Flap Chair at Design Miami in December 2024, and the challenges faced by the small-scale leather industry. Then he tried his hand at making a leather envelope at Rajbhar's Chamar Studio, tucked away in one of Asia's largest slum clusters, Dharavi.

"He appreciated our work and wanted to know how it can be supported and encouraged," said Rajbhar, whose studio employs leather workers from the Dalit community. "He asked how we had developed our studio and how we make our products," added Rahul Gore, Raj...