There's a new wave of Indian designers setting their sights on success in Europe and many of them are launching in London. MAIA ADAMS reports on the fashion talents battering our Bollywood preconceptions.

Say the words 'Indian' and 'Fashion' and it's odds-on you'll picture a scene from a Bollywood movie or a gap year trustie in tie-dye and a bindi. What you probably won't imagine are catwalks of London, Milan and New York or the rails of the world's most glamorous stores. If that's the case, it's time to think again because this is exactly where a new generation of Indian designers are making their name.

This September the BFC, which each year invites an international designer to show at LFW, elected to showcase an Indian talent. The 15 strong selection committee (including anonymous key UK buyers and press) plumped for flamboyant designer Manish Arora who, although unknown in the UK, enjoys superstar status back home with his Fish Fry boutiques peppered across the country. [You can see our report of his LFW show here]

Such choices aren't all style over substance. According to BFC talent scout, Andrew Tucker, a number of other criteria inform the selection process. "The BFC like to invite designers from a country with a vibrant fashion design industry of their own," he explains. "This is often a by-product of emergent economies or periods of political change. The fashion week, in that sense, becomes symbolic of a developing cultural identity."

India ticks all those boxes. Long important as a production hub for the global fashion industry, a confluence of factors have, in recent years, turned it into a hotbed for cutting-edge fashion.

India's developing economy - currently the second fastest in the world - has given rise to a wealthy middle class who, with easy access to global media and the wherewithal to travel, are developing a taste for fashions with an international flavour. Fortunately, these demands dovetail with the aspirations of a new generation of Indian designers who are studying abroad and are returning home with a novel vision. Their fusion of modern design elements with traditional techniques results in couture-standard pret collections which are taking the international fashion scene by storm.

Increased affluence has also meant that India's manufacturing infrastructure is becoming more sophisticated, enabling designers to honour large foreign orders. Kolkattan designer Anamika Khanna (whose Ana-Mika label is currently sold in Notting Hill boutique, Boho, and Harrods) explains. "Over the years, production has been a problem for Indian designers. But we can't afford to let that happen any more. As the market opens and brings new opportunities, we need to match up to international standards. Increased funding is enabling us to fulfil those expectations."

Practising what she preaches, Khanna recently acquired a new 10,000 sq ft factory at her base in Kolkatta. The move is expected to quadruple her production capacity and enabled her to show her ss06 collection at LFW, as part of the Royal Academy's On/Off event. Her UK catwalk debut was met with critical acclaim.

Despite Khanna's endorsement of modern technology, she is savvy enough to know that the charm of her work lies in harnessing traditional techniques such as tea-staining, quilting, hand dyeing and printing. The result is a collection of jewel-coloured. kaftan-style dresses decorated with intricate embroidery, crocheted floral belts, shrunken waistcoats, printed cotton jackets and dresses that reference old mosaics through the use of contrasting textures and patchwork.

Also from Kolkatta, Sabayaschi Mukherjee is Indian fashion's current wonderboy. At Milan Fashion Week ss05 he showed a collection which subsequently sold out in Browns London, and if sales figures are anything to go by his aw05 collection is set to do the same. It's not hard to understand Mukherjee's success. His work ethic is based around a quaint interplay of masculine and feminine proportions, and surface detail. Inspirations are eclectic from the showily dressed prostitutes of Kolkatta's red light district to his young neighbours - two young girls who, having lost their mother, would dress in their father's clothes. Oversized shirts, voluminous smock dresses and narrow coats are constructed from autumnal-hued chiffons, muslins and velvets which have been richly embellished with hand-printing and dyeing techniques, baroque beadwork, quilting and embroidery. The allure of these garments lies in a quirky fusion of traditional Indian techniques with western silhouettes.

Tipping the balance in favour of an altogether starker aesthetic is Delhi-based designer Ashish N Soni. No stranger to these shores, his first UK success came in 1992 when he experienced a 98% sell-through in Selfridges. He will return there next season

Employing a neutral palette and simplicity of line, enzyme washes and unusual weaves become Soni's tools on crisply tailored pieces where cut and movement come to the fore. It's an aesthetic with a Belgian sensibility but a signature all his own - its dissimilarity to any of his peers' work may be down to a childhood spent in Zambia and the Middle East. Whatever the reason, the final product was sufficiently sophisticated to earn his ss06 a spot on the ramp at New York Fashion Week this year.

While the majority of India's designers are, so far, happy to develop a market abroad but remaining on home ground, one among them has chosen to make the UK his base. Twenty-nine year old Ashish Gupta, the brains behind the popular Ashish label, studied womenswear first at Middlesex and then at Central St Martins and although his collections are manufactured in India, he has, for now, made London his home. In just four short seasons (he's shown once off-schedule and three times as a New Generation Designer) this tongue-in-cheek brand of power-sequinned showstoppers and glam sportswear has made him a fixture on the LFW catwalk. Inspired by neon signs and Dynasty bitch, Alexis Carrington, Ashish's crowning moment came when one of his dresses earned a starring role on Sex and the City.

The day after Manish Arora's LFW show, Telegraph Fashion Editor Hilary Alexander showed her approval by donning one of his designs during an interview on GMTV. With endorsements such as this filtering through from high fashion to mass audience, the Indian invasion is one that seems set to continue.

Maia Adams