New Delhi, Jan. 25 -- Did you know that the lace trimmings you scour the lanes and bylanes of Delhi to embellish kurtas, saris, lehngas, dupattas or shirts aren't just decorative pieces of textile-they are remnants of a 400-year-old exchange between France and India, set in motion when French missionaries established convents in south India? Even denim, a fabric of which India is now among the world's largest producers, carries a French imprint: its name comes from de Nîmes, referencing the city of Nîmes where denim was first made.

There's more. Soft Bengal muslin, the fabric behind Jamdani and Dhakai saris, was once favoured by French aristocracy for undergarments. After corsetry fell out of fashion, the fabric gained visibili...