Anita Dongre is our newsmaker of the month. She ruled the roost at the Make in India Week in Mumbai with her stunning textiles while her recent keynote address at the Harvard Business School too was incredibly inspiring. Karan Bhardwaj gets you the designer’s notes
Indian fashion designers are drawing respect across the globe for not only their creations but also entrepreneurial qualities. Many of the blue-chip designers have built their colossal empires and boast of a large workforce at different territories. One of the designers, Anita Dongre, is one such example of an impressive success. She started her journey some 20 years ago and today is acknowledged as one of the most iconic designers in India. She recently delivered an inspiring keynote address at Harvard Business School, where she touched upon every facet of her incredible life and career. The transcript of her speech was first published online by Vogue.
To begin with, Dongre recalled her initial years when she started her business from a garage. Today over 2,500 creative souls work for her.
“Armed with a fashion degree at 21, burning with passion and the desire to set up a business in design, I started out with two sewing machines in my bedroom together with my younger sister. However, as life would have it, we got thrown out of the bedroom and moved into a garage thereafter (looks like a lot of successful businesses start in bedrooms or garages like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, etc). Soon, I shifted from the garage to a slum in Dharavi—that’s where the workforce was in dingy terrible industrial sheds, but it was a start. Finally, today, after many long years, we have a design headquarter that is a hundred thousand square feet, utopian and eco-friendly, at the edge of serene hills, employing over 700 out of the 2,500-plus people that are part of the House of Anita Dongre team.”
She believes in hard work and totally dedicates her success to her team.
“Over the years, there have been ups and downs, and of course, a few failures. But that’s what got me here today. Hard work, integrity and perseverance. And a fantastic core team: I run the business with my brother and sister and a competent professional team.”
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She explained how the story of her first brand was germinated.
“Eighteen years ago, I created my first brand AND, India’s first designer prêt label. I was simply addressing the need of countless Indian women who needed western wear to wear daily, as they were now taking up careers. AND was a huge success from day one. Influenced by my childhood years, most of which I spent in Rajasthan, there was this bohemian spirit in me, along with colourful, vibrant Indian patterns and designs that were waiting to be created.”
The success of AND led to the foundation of other brands like Global Desi.
“(These led to) Global Desi, the brand I have the maximum fun with. Anita Dongre Bridal just had to take birth, because I was very excited to create beautiful handcrafted lehengas using the age-old craft of gotapatti from Rajasthan. These were the lehengas that the now independent modern Indian woman could dance in all night. Gone were the days a bride stood shyly hands folded in a namaste, weighed down by a 20-kilo lehenga. Designing precious jewellery, again using the age-old craft of jadau from Rajasthan, was a natural extension, and a must to complete the bridal line of Anita Dongre, which how PinkCity came into being.”
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Over the years, she has worked with thousands of artisans and also cropped a breed of new craftsmen.
“Travelling while researching interesting textiles in the villages of India brought me face-to-face with amazing artisans. Each one was so gifted, but they did not have enough work to sustain themselves and their families. They needed design intervention to sustain the craft, and a marketplace. I understand design and I used my skills to make their craft contemporary. And Grassroot was born, to be the marketplace. And so, I finally used my design skills for betterment.”
She has her own foundation, which is working closely in a remote Maharashtrian village to empower unskilled locals.
“The Anita Dongre Foundation has just begun its work. Our first project is in a small village called Charoti, two hours from Mumbai. This village depended only on agriculture as a source of income, and this was insufficient due to the vagaries of nature. We have trained completely unskilled women in hand embroidery and sewing at Charoti, also ensuring sustained employment in the process itself, thus making the village a sustainable unit. I firmly believe employment opportunities need to be created in the villages rather than the villages migrating to overcrowded cities in search of employment.”
She is practising empowerment for her brand Grassroot, which is totally passionate about.
“Grassroot is my newest baby and a special one. The one I dedicate the rest of my life to. It’s a brand that will be worn by women all across the world, beyond race, culture or colour. It’s a fashionable brand and I do believe sustainable fashion needs to be fashionable. I dream of making every village sustainable. We have to ensure the younger generation of artisans take pride in the work of their forefathers. Today, they are all abandoning the craft and seeking other avenues for employment. The craft should never die.”
So impressive!
