How Gen Z and millennials made Sarojini Nagar a bigger flex than Zara, H&M

‘Sarojini ke kapde pehen ke jaati madam disco.’ Back in 2014, when Badshah’s song ‘Saturday Saturday’ from the film ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’ was released, Delhi girls went crazy. As the club and party culture was becoming mainstream at that time, many middle-class girls could strongly relate to the Sarojini reference. Why wouldn’t they? Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar Market, one of the country’s most popular shopping hubs, was the go-to fashion fix that never burnt a hole in the pocket.
Yet, due to its ‘low price’ appeal, admitting to wearing Sarojini finds wasn’t exactly the trend – something this hilarious viral Reel perfectly encapsulates:
Now, Sarojini is a prominent part of Indian pop culture. Social media platforms are abuzz with Sarojini haul videos, and comedy sketches referencing the market, like Akash Gupta’s ‘excuse me, brother?’, go crazy viral. A picture against the freshly-revamped but already-iconic yellow gate is the ultimate Delhi postcard shot.

Punjabi singer and actress Sunanda Sharma in Sarojini Nagar Market. (Photo: Instagram/sunanda_ss)

Was Sarojini always the fashion hub that it is today? Not at all. It wasn’t even called Sarojini Nagar, in fact.
Sarojini Nagar Market began to take shape after Independence when shops with residences above them were allocated to refugees who arrived in Delhi from Pakistan following the Partition. It was called Vinay Nagar then. At that time, the market served as a basic community shopping hub for the market residents and the thousands of families living in nearby government quarters – scrap dealers, dhabas, stationeries, general stores kinda shops.
It was in the late 80s and early 90s, around the advent of globalisation, when Sarojini Nagar became a hub for export surplus shopping, with vendors selling high-quality goods at throwaway prices. Some of the stock even came from massive donation heaps from developed Western countries. So, people would find international fashion here – without spending a bomb, of course.
The blend of affordability and style attracted youngsters, fashion enthusiasts, and even designers looking for inspiration. In the late 90s, fashion became dominant in what was otherwise a complete family market, and it started earning the reputation of a crowded marketplace. Miss Universe 1994 winner Sushmita Sen also purchased fabric from Sarojini Nagar Market for pageant gowns.
In 2005, it became a target of a harrowing terrorist attack. But soon the market moved on, and so did the shoppers. Delhiites, as well as tourists from other states and countries, began flocking the streets once again.
Cut to 2024. Sarojini is a brand in itself, trusted by everyone from fashion influencers, celebrity fashion stylists, and young enthusiasts who do not mind braving the mad crowds even on a hot summer noon to scout the best of fashion picks.
From the film ‘Aisha’ to Sobhita Dhulipala-starrer web series ‘Made in Heaven’, their styling teams have incorporated pieces from Sarojini. Social media played a huge role in this too. Big influencers like Komal Pandey and Kritika Khurana would do a lot of Sarojini Nagar haul and styling videos in their early years.
Viewers from all over the country would get enamoured by how they could make a top as cheap as Rs 100 look so good. The videos obviously got a lot of attention owing to their styling prowess and the cheap prices of clothes. This social media fever only surged as more people – fashion influencer or not – ventured into vlogging.
Now, in the era of Instagram Reels, Sarojini haul videos help budding influencers get instant attention.
While they showcase their minimally priced purchases for social media, it is also now a flex to be wearing those picks. Gen Z is definitely bringing in that vibe!
“Shopping from Sarojini is a talent. With us Gen Z, if we get something very good from the market that we can wear to a party, we are going to brag about it. You’ve got to have an eye for that. When I was nominated for the Cosmopolitan Blogger Awards for the first time, I was wearing a Sarojini blazer at the welcome dinner and that’s why I made four new friends because they were wearing Sarojini as well,” Ashrey Puri, a fashion and makeup content creator, shared on India Today Podcasts.
The exclusivity factor also makes Sarojini-bought clothes more cherished. Unlike fast-fashion brands like H&M and Zara, which manufacture thousands of units of each design, the pieces purchased from Sarojini are often unique, with just one piece available at times.
According to Sufi Motiwala, a fashion content commentator, the real flex is how you style your Sarojini purchases.
“Sarojini Nagar is essentially all of Delhi’s closet, no matter where a person lives. Wearing Sarojini is not a flex, just like wearing any clothes isn’t. The real flex is whether you can wear Sarojini and make it look premium,” Sufi Motiwala says.
Tanya Bedi, a Gen Z fashion content creator based in Delhi, adds that she adores this market because it is the closest option for thrift shopping.
“Some prefer to keep their budget-friendly secrets close to their chest, while others, like me, can’t help but brag about their bargaining skills. So, I’ll proudly announce, ‘check out this jacket I snagged for just Rs 150 at Sarojini’,” Tanya Bedi adds.
The Sarojini craze is not limited to Delhi, which is why you would often see people from cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru sharing exciting videos about their Sarojini visit and purchases. In fact, it is customary for big travel groups and even individual travellers, especially from the south and eastern states of the country, to visit Sarojini during their Delhi trips.
Not just fashion enthusiasts, but families visit Sarojini to find everything from home decor essentials and kids’ clothing to footwear and upholstery, all at affordable prices.
Entrepreneurs also admit to this nationwide interest.
“When we launched Sarojini Market Online to make the market accessible online during the pandemic, we witnessed surprisingly high interest from cities like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Most of them knew about the market through social media videos. So, when we made shopping from the much-loved market an online affair, it generated a lot of buzz,” says Vandit Chawla, a Gen Zer Sarojini resident and the man who got the iconic yellow wall revamped.
That said, Sarojini sprees aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Some days you get lucky with the collections, and other days you don’t. The crowd can also be a challenge, especially on weekends. Plus-size women often struggle to find good-quality clothes too.
Was Badshah throwing a taunt when he said ‘Sarojini ke kapde pehen ke jaati madam disco’? We don’t know. But what we surely know is that buying and styling attention-grabbing pieces from Sarojini is an absolute flex. And Gen Zers are here for it! So are millennials.