The FDCI India Couture Week 2022 was all about adding exquisite trends to our wedding platters over the span of 9 days, and drawing the curtains for this fashion fiesta we had Anamika Khanna refurbishing the fashion scene with a hint of her design aesthetics.
After having the curtains raised with massive energy this year, we sure expected that touch of extra charm to the grandeur of the grand finale of the FDCI India Couture Week. And offering just the right amount of justice to the finale this season, Anamika Khanna wooed the audience with her exquisite collection that rightly spelt out ‘The Grand Finale’. After the mesmerising showcase of all the other 12 couturiers, Anamika Khanna quite efficiently drew the curtains of the India Couture Week with ‘An experiment with not just the silhouettes, but her design ethos too.
Anamika Khanna’s collection titled ‘An Experiment’ was a true representation of what playing with trends looks like. The immaculate collection was all about presenting the charms of tribal India infused with a modern and quirky touch to it. Breaking away from the typical format of a bridal collection, Khanna brought the ripped fashion from your daily closet to the ramp, something that only she could’ve pulled off, right? Speaking of which, apart from having an exuberant range of outfits, experimental jewellery, and plush patchwork, the said designer had the dapper dude of B-town, Rajkummar Rao on board as the showstopper. With an all-black, ripped and swagger attire, the actor embraced the ramp and added his effortless style to the finale.
So, just to gain a deeper insight into Anamika Khanna’s thoughts and vision behind the collection, we decided to catch up with the designer and got her to spill the beans in regards to the above.
Anamika Khanna on her latest collection ‘An Experiment’:
The collection subverts norms on what a collection should look like. Can you tell us more about this departure?
The intention was to be able to find your own space in what you do. I don’t think in the whole world actually when it comes to fashion there are any more norms or there is no such thing as acceptable or not, there are no rules there are no limitations more than anything what fashion should be or what couture should be what anything should be actually and that’s what we are accepting and we’re saying that it is okay if you’re doing your own thing it is okay to be accepted or not to be accepted as long as it brings you your personal happiness and that’s what this collection is about. We were exploring a space where we would have the courage to break away from what is expected usually in India there is an expectation from couture that you’re gonna be showing bridal pieces, you’re gonna be sticking with what should be all of that and it was a very very conscious effort to break away from that because as a designer group we are all feeling that we need to move on we need to rediscover we need to experiment we need to push boundaries and that’s the space we are in right now.
There are a lot of tribal influences in the collection, can you tell us more about the various sources?
Personally, there has been a fascination when it comes to all cultures that exist in India and there are a lot of tribal spaces that remain unexplored, they’re so beautiful and they’re so powerful that feeling you know when you see women or men actually who belong to these pieces you see the power that they exude and the beauty that they exude I was drawing very very strongly from them for me it was about the power that everybody was exuding in terms of how you’re feeling at that moment that you’re sensitive you respect you are empathetic too, at the same time you have the power within yourself and when you have that it comes out and that’s where the tribal referencing was coming from. It started from this journey and the understanding the respect that we have this much culture in the tribes that exists this much beauty this much inspiration and somehow the other we want to bring it out to the forefront and make it more relevant to what fashion might be today
What are the various Indian techniques that form the core of the collection?
Indian techniques have always been the mainstay from where we start our craft journey in every collection. In this one, of course, we use you know integrate zardozi techniques we do all sorts of experimentation where we mix techniques into one. We also do a lot of antiquating, there were lots and lots of pearls that we used this time there were other tribal influences where we used embellishments that referenced tribal work but at the same time, we also went very very heavy on doing embellishments this season.
Is there a hero piece from the collection that you would like to talk about?
I think the whole collection we treated like heroes, every single piece had a reason to it, and every single piece had a story to it. If we were working on embellishments that were layered and layered again or if there were different influences mixed within each other every single piece I think was a hero for me.
What according to you is the 2022 bride looking for?
The bride in 2022 for me is very easily looking for individuality. I don’t think brides are looking to be part of any group. Everyone is recognising their own personalities, understanding who they are and where they come from, they want to stand out and make a statement for themselves.
