Kathmandu, Nov. 8 -- When actor Thinley Lhamo walked the carpet at the Telluride Film Festival for the premiere of 'Tenzing' in September, she carried Mount Everest on her back, its ridges worked in tonal thread across an ivory raw silk suit.

Created by the Kathmandu label Jijivisha, the look was made entirely in Nepal. It combined hand-spun, handwoven silk with Panchadhatu jewellery set with Himalayan stones, and a single button of uncut blue sapphire.

None of that came from Paris, Milan or New York.

For a country whose clothing is often assumed to mean tourist markets and bargain prices, the look made a quiet argument that Nepali design can appear on international stages on its own terms, with its own materials and its own hands. Its...