With over 100 retail points, a new website and jewellery, Anita Dongre is our woman to watch.
EXPANSION plans, a new website, jadau jewellery and a new private equity firm taking over in a few days. Add hiring, training and 300 mails a day to this mix and you wonder how designer Anita Dongre finds the time to breathe. Well, two decades in the industry has made her the biggest asset to her clothing empire. She can teach a lot of designers how to be successful a�� she has a good chance, say experts, of becoming the most profitable and fastest growing Indian designer. Plus, she wins the design race with labels like the flagship AND, Global Desi, Grassroots, Anita Dongre couture and now, gold jewellery titled Pink City. It helps, says the designer with a son, 21, that the family business (her sister and brother are involved) is run professionally, with a CEO for each of her mother brands. a�?a�?I didna��t compromise on design, even when Future Group entered our business. It was pure funding then. They come to me because of my expertise,a��a�� says Dongre.
Currently busy designing a six-month wardrobe for a high-profile Bollywood client, Dongre says she likes mixing expensive couture with affordable fashion. She is known for her quirky style and creative use of at least eight varieties of silk and at the recent Lakme Fashion Week, her Buddha print sari from Global Desi (featured left) was a big hit. The designer shares that the trick to making it big is to live in the present. a�?a�?My memory is zero and it is a family joke. I dona��t live in the past,a��a�� she reveals. There are a few exceptions, of course, one of them being her new jewellery line, Pink City, inspired by the jadau jewellery she grew up with. a�?a�?All my clothes go well with jadau. I have been itching to do it for five years,a��a�� she chuckles. While her gold jewellery showcases Rajasthani craftsmanship, meenakari and jadau for women, men get 22k buttons and cuff-links that borrow from Jaipur jaali work. a�?a�?My sense of design is simple, clean and well-cut,a��a�� she says.