The first time Anamika Khanna sent out draped saris worn over trousers was at Delhi Couture Week in 2012. She remembers being nervous that the idea of tinkering with a timeless garment wouldn’t sit well with fashion folks. “I had taken eight or nine models, put them in these cut saris of different colours, paired with trousers. And I was dying, because I could have been shredded to pieces for messing with something that is so sacred in our country. But I did take that risk. And once those girls came out, I knew something had happened. It was a moment,” she says. It's a composite of many such quiet, incremental, and significant moments that have elevated Khanna’s creative oeuvre to cult status over the two decades since she launched her label. 

 Take her initiation into the world of fashion design, for instance. The Jodhpur-born and Kolkata-bred designer recalls how she imbibed her sense of fine taste from her mother and maternal grandmother. “The clothes they wore, the antiquities that one saw, the beautiful heritage pieces that were around you, every piece of jewellery they owned was special,” recalls Khanna, who credits those core memories with helping her develop an inherent eye for design, aesthetic and craft.  

 The science student, who harboured dreams of becoming a classical dancer or an artist, took a rather surprising chance and sent an entry in for the Damania Fashion Awards in 1995. Khanna not only won the contest, but was asked to design garments for a showcase in Mumbai. “I didn’t know how to make clothes. I didn’t even know what a meter of fabric was. I was studying physics and maths. But once I somehow made those first few garments and did the show, I just knew that this is what I was going to do,” says Khanna.  

Bengaluru-based store ffolio invited her to sell there, and the rest has been a slow organic growth story, fuelled by hard work, a deep dive into the world of design, a continued need to educate herself and, above all, the desire to experiment. “I was experimenting from the day I was born. I’m the most bored person on the planet,” laughs Khanna.  

 It's no wonder then, that since she formally launched her eponymous label Anamika Khanna in 1998, she has consistently taken risks, shattered stereotypes, taken liberties and, in the process, created new design paradigms. From showcasing at the first-ever edition of Lakme India Fashion Week in 2000, to launching Ana Mika, arguably the country’s foremost international label in 2004, being invited to showcase at Paris Fashion Week (2007) and London Fashion Week (2010), joining the haute ranks of couturiers with the first edition of India Couture Week in 2008, becoming a celebrity favourite and, in the process, making it to the Business Of Fashion’s BoF 500 list of people shaping the global fashion industry, Khanna has been incessantly busy creating, questioning, and reconfiguring.
 
She talks about being fascinated by the muslin dhoti worn by the pujari from the temple adjacent to her factory and how she went on to ask for his assistance to drape the men’s garment on a women’s mannequin. “Once that was done, we started snipping off all the extra bits. We added a stretch waistband, a zipper, and then we removed all the extra cowl, and stitched it up, so that a woman doesn't have to worry about untying and tying it. And then we added a luxury fabric to it. That's how the dhoti pant came about. The process took me almost 10 days of complete obsession,” recalls Khanna, who debuted the reinvention at her first Delhi Couture Week outing in 2013. Whether she finds inspiration in conventional Maharashtrian Nauvari (nine-yard) saris, or dance costumes, her fascination with reimagining traditional shapes has also given mainstream Indian fashion the dhoti saree, the dhoti skirt, and her trademark cape.   
 
These flattering drapes meet a plethora of Indian embellishing and embroidery traditions on an Anamika Khanna ensemble quite effortlessly. “I've always been fascinated by the different arts and crafts that we have in our country. Every time I see an old textile or craft, I'm just inspired. Things happen in my brain. But the idea is also to experiment with these techniques and modernise them, not be limited by them,” says Khanna. 

On her drawing board, beads, sequins, cutwork, pearls, zardozi, Kutchi embroidery, Kathiyawadi stitches, Bengali kantha work, Kashmiri thread work, Parsi gara embroidery and gota from Rajasthan come together seamlessly, sometimes in the same outfit. “For me, it's like a melting pot now. I am able to take things from different places and amalgamate them with modern sharp, present-day silhouettes, or go very traditional with them. My mind is completely open and I'm not scared anymore, I design with freedom. So, I don't have boundaries; there is no line that I'm not going to cross when it comes to experimenting,” says Khanna. 
 
Not surprisingly, her last India Couture Week collection showcased in 2022 was titled ‘An Experiment’. And what an audacious outing it was! “We literally embroidered pieces top to bottom with heavy zardozi and other techniques, and then we shredded them to bits. I'm not scared of what people are going to say. I'm only worried about whether I’ve pushed myself enough. Am I able to sleep at night? That's what matters to me,” says Khanna. 
 
Her designs may be easily recognizable, but it’s still tough to pigeonhole them into neat sections marked goth, baroque, tribal, cocktail, minimal or modern. A studied colour palette sees her temper flaming reds and bright blues with her perennial favourites—ivory and black. This distinct dichotomy is evident in the way she marries traditional and modern, fluidity and structure, texture and flow. “I sometimes laugh that my head is divided into two. On one side I do couture, on the other ready-to-wear. I can make completely traditional clothes, or the exact opposite. This come naturally to me because for the last 20 years, from morning to night, I have only done one thing—design. I've studied design, I've looked at design, I’ve observed design, I thought about design, or I’ve sketched,” she shrugs.  
 
And while the single-minded obsession has taken a toll—Khanna suffered a sudden Transient Ischemic Attack in 2019—the health setback has also changed her “180 degrees as a human being”. “At many points, I may have taken myself for granted. Ever since, I’ve realised that if I didn't have my health back, I couldn't design, and it would just be a meaningless life to me. That literally forced me to think about things and the way I would conduct myself. So, at this moment, I may be working five times more and doing at least 30,000 more things than I did before, but I'm able to deal with the stress better,” she adds. 
 
And while she’s doing yoga, running and taking time out for herself every day, what has also contributed greatly is the fact that her 27-year-old twins have joined the business. Vishesh oversees the newly launched menswear line and Viraj, an artist in his own right, in involved in the finance and accounting side of the business. “They gravitated quite naturally to the business, because our work is so interesting you can't stay away from it. Everyone is doing their own thing, but we are all working together. We still have our independence and yet we're a unit – it’s a good space to be in,” says Khanna. 
 
With the launch of the label’s pret line AK-OK in 2019—an extension of the brand’s DNA into a youthful line of athleisure wear replete with street style influences, graphic prints and bold colour—the mother’s much-coveted personal style and experimental vision, and her sons’ fresh insights have found a meeting ground. With Reliance Brands Limited signing a 60:40 joint venture deal to develop AK-OK, Khanna is optimistic about the way forward. 

“There was a time when I followed trend books and wanted to be ahead of the game. But slowly, as you grow—in age, as a human being, and also in your creative process—I think I’ve become much more intuitive and empathetic. There’s that realisation that if somebody trusts you to buy something that you have made, you want to give them quality, craft and timelessness so that they can wear it for a very long time. That is my idea of sustainability and luxury,” says Khanna. And the secret to her label’s successful innings so far? “Just consistency of design. And we work with honesty and integrity.”