Designer Anamika Khanna is hitting refresh
Summary
Six years after she had a stroke, designer Anamika Khanna is taking the slow and steady route to turn her couture and pret labels into global hits
This is not the Anamika Khanna I met a few years ago. Back then, the Kolkata-based designer stuck to crisp one-line answers, and was uninterested in explaining herself. She preferred to let her work do all the talking.
The Anamika Khanna sitting before me this Friday afternoon, a few weeks before heading to New York to style Isha Ambani for the Met Gala, is chatty without oversharing. The collar of her oversized white shirt is up, her black trousers are tailored like a salwar, and the whole look is complemented by killer heels, blow-dried black hair and freshly manicured red-gel nails. It’s this effortless feminine-yet-androgynous personal style that extends to her work.
“This is AK 2.0," says Khanna, the force behind the eponymous couture brand and ready-to-wear label AK-OK. “(There is) a 180-degree change in the way I now approach life and work," she says, before excusing herself to take a call from a client.
We are at her store in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai’s arts district-turned-fashion hub where designers from Anita Dongre to Gaurav Gupta have built elaborate stores in heritage buildings. Khanna’s store is in one of the more modern buildings. Lines of garments hang on exposed railings, surrounded by blank white walls—a rare sight of minimalism in a sea of stores adorned with chandeliers, elaborate wallpaper and plush carpets.
Khanna, 53, who started her career in Kolkata with an eponymous couture label in the late 1990s, stands out in the world of fashion entrepreneurs. She was the first woman in her traditional Marwari family to go to college (Loretto in Kolkata), work, and build one of the country’s large couture brands. Her aesthetic is nonconformist—she peels back the layers of traditional silhouettes, rearranging them to create something unique that pushes you to see classic design in a new light.
Her showcase at the 2012 Delhi fashion week is a study in reimagining classic styles. Couturiers had popularised the pre-draped sari. Khanna took it a step further: She pre-draped it, cut it to end at calf-length, and fitted it over trousers which peeked out beneath the sari. About eight models walked the runway in Khanna’s pant-saris. It was casual, sensual, modern yet traditional. She’s also sent models out in “casual" lehngas, the skirts knotted on one side or ruched on both sides. This kind of experimentation, where eclecticism meets craftsmanship and contemporary tailoring while remaining true to Indian silhouettes, remains rare in fashion.
It’s perhaps why Khanna is a favourite of fashion-forward celebrities. Sonam Kapoor Ahuja wore Khanna’s creations during her wedding celebrations in 2018, and at two Cannes red-carpet appearances (2013 and 2014). Kareena Kapoor Khan, who has been her showstopper over the years, opted for an Anamika Khanna blush dress with a trailing beige-gold floral silk jacket for a Bvlgari event in Dubai last year, a look that the internet loved.
Her desire to constantly reinvent is visible in the black silk kaftan hanging in front of me at her store. From a distance, it looks like plain black fabric. On closer inspection, it’s buttery soft silk that gives a flattering shape to the body, no matter the wearer’s size. A one-inch tissue material detailing that runs around the abdomen area exposes just a hint of flesh. It’s sexy without being risqué.
Now her hunger for reinvention is more than ever, Khanna tells me as she settles back on her all-black wooden chair. “This is the second chapter of my life," she says of her desire to reinvent herself, to open new stores in India and eventually abroad, to expand her accessories as well as menswear, to have more of her designs on the international red carpet and to build a global brand.
In 2019, before the world locked down during the covid-19 pandemic, she suffered a transient ischemic attack, often called a “mini-stroke", in which a blood clot temporarily interrupts blood flow to the brain. Constant planning of collections, preparing for fashion shows, client meetings, celebrity demands, frequent travel, being a mother to twins and stress accumulated over the years had pushed Khanna to the edge. For almost a year, she rested and recovered, watching TV in bed, while her team took over the reins. There were days she couldn’t remember who she was. Forming sentences had become a struggle. She thought she would no longer be able to do what she loved most: sketch.
With rest, medication and physiotherapy, she was fully back at work by 2021. The same year she joined hands with Reliance Brands Ltd to develop AK-OK, her more affordable, ready-to-wear label that borrows heavily from her eponymous couture brand.
This was a different Anamika Khanna.
“I was born again," says Khanna, who’s just launched her fifth couture store, in Hyderabad, and a range of bags. “I’ve become much calmer. I don’t hyperventilate like I used to when things don’t go to plan. I’ve started saying no; I’d rather rest than struggle. I stay in Kolkata a lot more; I don’t want to live the busy social life of a designer. And I want to talk more about my work."
Her plans for this second chapter are grander than ever before. “I want to go international but it needs to be wholesome…a full circle. Not just clothes, but a lifestyle brand. And not just Indian. That’s the mountain I want to climb."
Also read: The seductive power of Rahul Mishra designs
And it is going to be a race as a number of Indian designers seem to have set themselves similar goals over the past few years. Both Delhi-based Rahul Mishra and Gaurav Gupta are regulars on the Paris couture runways and have dressed celebrities like Blake Lively, Fan Bingbing and Beyonce. Kolkata-based Sabyasachi Mukherjee opened a store in New York in 2022, and has made appearances at the Met Gala for two years running, apart from dressing celebrities such as Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan and Elon Musk’s author-model mother Maye Musk. Mumbai’s Anita Dongre, who has a New York flagship store, too, is quietly working towards a stronger global presence. So is Delhi-based Tarun Tahiliani, who’s reportedly hunting for an international address. Mumbai’s Manish Malhotra, who made his Met Gala debut this week, launched a store in Dubai two years ago. Khanna, who’s done one Paris fashion week show, has dressed Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Colman Domingo, among others.
It’s a crowded race.
“While Gaurav Gupta is futuristic and sculptural, and Sabyasachi leans heavily into maximalism and nostalgia, Anamika’s interpretation of India’s heritage is more understated yet artistically avant-garde," says Hema Bose, the founder of Maison Bose, an image consultancy that assists designers worldwide with celebrity placements, creative direction and brand elevation.
Among her clients are Gupta, Jean-Louise Sabaji, Lucy Choi and Jimmy Choo. Khanna is the latest to join the roster.
“Her silhouettes are often deconstructed, asymmetrical and fluid. She doesn’t just modernise tradition, rather she transforms it into pure, wearable art that can sit alongside any of the great international fashion houses."
Who will win the race is anybody’s guess—Khanna is in no rush.
Also read: What Sabyasachi proved with his 25th anniversary show
Keeping it personal
Khanna’s journey started in the 1990s in Kolkata, when a friend insisted she send her sketches for a competition. Growing up surrounded by tea gardens owned by her father in Assam, Khanna used to sketch and draw all the time, bringing nature alive on paper.
Prasad Bidapa, a fashion show director who was in charge of the award, called her, saying, “We liked your sketches. You have to come and present a collection in a few weeks."
There was one problem: Khanna didn’t know how to make clothes. “I didn’t know what a metre of fabric was, or what chiffon or cotton was," she recalls. “I was 19, in college and had just gotten married to a Punjabi guy, something my parents weren’t very happy about. But I had committed to the show, so I had to present."
While looking for inspiration, she came across a book on African textiles. The next step became clear to her. “I told myself, I’m not going to buy fabric from the market… I took a loan of ₹6,000 from my husband and found somebody to juxtapose textiles and textures so that I could develop new versions of fabrics," she says. “Then I went to a tailor with my designs."
She’d grown up seeing her mother and grandmother buy, wear and appreciate traditional saris and antique jewellery, and had learnt satin stitch, back stitch, mirrorwork and Kathiyawadi stitch at school. It was all knowledge that would come to inform her first collection of Indo-Western outfits.
She won the preliminary round and had to make another collection for the final round in Mumbai. This time, she painted on top of the embroidery of her six outfits, Indo-Western again. They were a hit.
Soon, The Ffolio, a Bengaluru multi-designer store, wanted her clothes, as did Delhi-based Ogaan and Mumbai’s Ensemble, where she still sells her clothes. From someone who dreamt of being a dancer (she’s trained in Bharatanatyam), she was suddenly a young designer with a clear path. To create her own label with her own money.
“I have no formal training in design. I didn’t know anyone (in the industry). I was experimenting and taking risks."
Perhaps what made her work stand out during the initial 2000s—a time when established designers like the late Rohit Bal and Ritu Kumar focused on experimenting with silhouettes from a traditional lens, like the multi-tiered ghagara or the prints-heavy salwar-kameez—was her calculated move to not give in to her design impulses initially.
She attended workshops at the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London and institutes in Paris to understand pattern making, tailoring and cutting.
While she was teaching herself the craft, her work was being noticed. She was part of the inaugural Lakme fashion week in Delhi in 2000. Five years later, she was showcasing a Goth-inspired floor sweeping kurta-meets-cape with pants that had the fall of a dhoti at the London Fashion Week.
Soon followed a contract with multi-designer store Harrod’s in London. By 2007, she was presenting on the Paris Fashion Week runway while building Ana-Mika, in partnership with two apparel promoters, claimed to be the first international brand by an Indian designer. It went kaput.
“Too early, too fast and too much," she says. “I was selling in 100-plus stores internationally. You don’t make money in the international market in the first three-four years. It was a lot to manage and little money. My business in India was over because I couldn’t concentrate here."
The shows on international runways didn’t help much. “There was no exposure, resources or support. There was no social media. It was very tough and expenses were high. Yes, it was a golden opportunity," she says, staring at the cup of black coffee in her hand. “Had I continued, it would have helped."
International calling
Khanna’s decision to go global again started becoming clear early last year.
In May, she released an H&M collection as part of the fast-fashion brand’s annual designer collaboration. Hers was the second Indian design house to do so after Sabyasachi. The collection, which included an oversized jacket with enough chikankari on it to make the transition from an office meeting to a party and a long shirt with kantha work, sold out instantly across the world.
Also read: What H&M x Anamika Khanna collection says
Towards the end of 2024, her AK-OK brand was launched at New York’s multi-designer store Saks, alongside Rahul Mishra’s Afew. She believes Reliance’s backing will help AK-OK spread its wings.
Will she consider going the corporate way with her couture brand as well?
Not yet. “I want to stay true to the handcraft that we do. I don’t want to put my things in a machine. I don’t want to expand to a level where qualities are put to the test," she says. “Because you can only do that much when it comes to real luxury. I don’t want to dilute my vision of design, of experimentation."
But she wants her creations to be seen more regularly on the global stage.
“Anamika’s designs are deeply expressive and individualistic, they offer a freedom of identity and a sense of artistic self-expression," says Bose. “For someone like Colman, who is known for his bold elegance and authenticity, AK’s (Anamika Khanna’s) pieces are bold/artistic. Shakira finds synergy with her work because it celebrates individuality, movement, and craft without being rigid and also crafted by a woman. It’s not always about the design but the emotion as well. There’s a soulfulness and modern grace in her aesthetic that allows these global icons to feel powerful, yet intimately themselves."
As I go through the pieces in her Mumbai store, it strikes me that each can be personalised to the wearer’s desire.
That’s Khanna’s other power: Creating new-age classics that are glamorous, adaptable and flattering no matter the size you are—a kind of design philosophy that can only come from a true understanding of the woman’s body.
“There are days when I am feeling bloated and don’t want to wear something fitted. Some days I want to—I understand what a woman’s body and mind go through and I want to make clothes that can be re-worn 25 years later. That’s my idea of sustainability," says Khanna.
Finding inspiration
What inspires her work? “I don’t know." She sips her coffee. “Of course, I have been doing it non-stop for 30 years. It’s practice, discipline, and a habit. But I don’t have one answer for you."
I prod a little. “It’s very emotional, you know. I see what’s happening around me, how women are dressing, how I am reacting to clothes. Very emotions based, I don’t know how to explain."
We switch to discussing what fuels her ideas, and she points to her signature dhoti pants—the structured, comfortable trousers that she first made and is now a wardrobe staple for everyone, from yoga teachers to actors and Gen Zers on social media videos.
“There was a panditji outside my office, and I noticed how he had draped his muslin dhoti," she says, adding that she loved the fall and the elegance of it. “I found it interesting and learnt how to tie it. Then we tried it on a mannequin. I added a stretch waistband, a zipper and removed the extra cowl, stitched it all up, and added some fabric so women don’t have to worry about untying and tying."
That was 2010 and the dhoti pants overshadowed the equally comfortable salwar. From the markets of Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar to Mumbai’s Colaba, dhoti pants in polyester, cotton and cotton blends became a go-to combo with tops and kurtas.
It’s this thought for ease of wearing that reflects in all her designs. Her lehnga-sari marries the grace of a pre-draped sari and trailing pallu with the voluminous skirt of lehnga—again a look that quickly went from the runway to the storefronts of Delhi’s Chandni Chowk.
The inspiration came from the wardrobe of her mother where she found a unique creation—her mother had cut off the pleats area of the sari and inserted a panel. “I asked her, ‘What is this?’ and she replied: ‘When you were younger, I had to cover my head in front of dadaji while sending you three (Khanna and her siblings) to school. Wearing a sari used to be cumbersome. So, I cut it off and added the panels so that I didn’t have to make the pleats every morning."
It became the template for Khanna’s pre-draped saris that were laid over pants and presented in 2012. You didn’t have to worry about an underskirt, pleating or even whether the sari sat on your hips—you could just pull on the entire outfit and be ready to go.
Khanna says her mother gave her something else: a desire for perfection.
“As a kid, I had to know everything. It wasn’t acceptable if my chapati was not round. Or if the tea was not brewed in a certain way. I can roll and fold a samosa like a pro. If my physics file didn’t have good handwriting, I had to do it again. If my needlework was not perfect, and one cross went off, then I had to do it again. I hated it," she says. “But now I realise it made me resilient. My growth has been slow but resilience is the reason I have survived in this tough industry for three decades."
She’s also learned from her many mistakes. When Khanna went international with Ana-Mika in the 2000s, in her mind she was a “star". Until one day a client in London told her that she would hang a jacket on the wall instead of wearing it because it was too much. “That’s when I realised that we need to do better cuts, introduce more patterns," she says.
Or, when the person responsible for editing her Paris Fashion Week collection removed her favourite piece to reduce the “baggage".
“It’s like being beaten with a stick. That’s how I have learnt," she says.
The other thing she learnt while working on Ana-Mika for a few years was that the creations, more ready-to-wear than bridal, were costume-y. Whether it was the highly embroidered capes or long floor-sweeping jackets, they weren’t too appetising for the Western audience.
“We’ve learnt to pare down or pare up to match demands of consumers. People in the West understand our (Indian designers’) work much more now."
Her learning also comes from her two kids, twins Viraj, an artist, and Vishesh, who’s completing a master’s in design at Central Saint Martins, London. They are both helping her in business, besides her husband.
“Viraj’s sense of business is acute and sharp. Vishesh’s design knowledge is superior to mine. Their generation has a very different way of thinking. The other day, one of my sons asked me, ‘Mama, would you have worn this when you were 25?’. I said no. ‘Then how do you expect others to wear it?’," she says. “Their questioning keeps me on my toes. It keeps me young and relevant. It makes me realise I am not in a rat race; I just want to do better each time."
She’s thinking big but this time around, she wants to slow down the pace, have control over all aspects of the business, and set her goals more clearly.
“I need to grow the size of my business and figure out where I sell and how many stores I should have, but this time I am taking it easy," says Khanna. “Ultimately, it’s about making clothes that are going to last for years. Bringing them to life takes time."
