A brain for business and an eye for design are combined in the persona of couturier Anita Dongre.
She is Indian in origin and global in acclaim, known not just for her prowess over ornamental wedding ensembles, but also for her tireless contribution to sustainable fashion. Her spiralling career success has left many spellbound. She was one of the first Indian designers to get VC funding to grow her business into a multi-crore empire. Staying focused on the growth of her brand, Anita Dongre is today one of the most influential designers in the Indian fashion industry.
Anita Dongre was one of the first Indian designers to get VC funding to grow her business into a multi-crore empire.
Image: Anita Dongre
She is a couturier with a distinct signature style, a jewellery creator who dips into the vintage, a craft revivalist who works with many a women-led craft cluster, providing employment and self-sustenance to thousands of women kaarigars, and keeping dying crafts alive. Her empire is worth billions, and her design stable is spread over a few acres, with a green, multi-storey sustainable building in its midst.
Dongre’s design vocabulary swerves towards celebrating the jewel tones of Indian silks and cottons. Her base fabrics are very textural and rich. She is inspired by the ancient iconography of Mughal architecture, Indian miniature art, the generous use of floral motifs and the interplay of block prints with embellished embroidery. Her bridal ensembles are distinctive and rooted, and her Indian attire follows a costume-like cadence.
Anita Dongre is inspired by the ancient iconography of Mughal architecture, Indian miniature art, the generous use of floral motifs and the interplay of block prints with embellished embroidery.
Though she resides in Mumbai and is a total Mumbaiker, this gentle and quiet creator has her heart in the city of pink arches and minarets: Jaipur. It is there that she goes each time she wants to be inspired. Around that city, she has nurtured many a craft cluster run by women, reviving the ancient techniques of hand block printing, tie and dye, marodi embroidery, gota patti, and the like. She assembles these works under her brand ‘Roots’, and gives each ancient design a much-needed design intervention. The applause is well deserved.
November is a very special month for us, as we celebrate 61 years of being India’s most-read women’s magazine. In this anniversary special, we celebrate New Beginnings in the post-pandemic world, and have featured women who have been path breakers in their fields by crossing the toughest barriers to reach where they are.
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Also read: Femina Power List: Nita Ambani Is The First Lady of Corporate India