Priyanka Chopra stuns in 20-year-old reworked chikankari sari to accept inaugural Global Vanguard Award

Priyanka Chopra with her mother. (Source: Instagram/@priyankachopra)

Over one and a half months, women artisans across generations came together to embroider the textile entirely by hand. By doing so, the dress became a tribute to the women who continue to preserve and evolve India’s textile legacy. It also emerged from the designer and stylist’s shared intention to create something deeply personal to Chopra’s roots while reflecting the evolution of Indian craftsmanship on an international platform.

Aggarwal’s inspiration behind this dress stemmed from heritage, biomimicry and contemporary design through the intricate geometry of Mughal jalis, reinterpreted alongside parametric architecture — think sculptural corsetry, rubber cord detailing, glass beadwork, and industrial materials.

Rooted in the spiralling structure of the human DNA helix, the narrative highlights how historical ornamentation and modern forms emerge from the same natural intelligence embedded within life itself. The dress itself stands as a symbol of tradition reinterpreted through a contemporary global lens, and brought together by Aggarwal as a “dialogue between tradition and modernity, softness and structure, memory and innovation”, further read the note.

Chopra’s powerful words

During her acceptance speech, Priyanka Chopra took a moment to express gratitude to her mother, Dr Madhu Chopra, for her unwavering support in her personal life and professional career. She called her “the kind of mother who is here taking care of my child while I go filming for three weeks, the kind of grandmother that my grandmother was”.

Chopra also went on to share a few inspiring words for young women during a red carpet chat with Jyoti K. Chand: “Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself, because only you can sell yourself the way you know how to create those opportunities”.