Anita Dongre: The Trendsetter

In a journey that has spanned more than two decades, Anita Dongre, Chief Creative Officer, House of Anita Dongre has continued to be named among India’s most sought after names in the fashion industry. Two things stand out in any conversation with Dongre — a solution-driven mindset and an urge to make a difference on a broader, societal level.

One example of the former was seen when she had just begun her journey in 1998. At the time, Dongre wanted to setup a store in the Crossroads Mall (now Sobo Central) in Mumbai and was refused because she was a young woman. Dongre navigated the issue then, and a year later AND was the highest grossing store in the mall. Marking this as one of her first milestones, Dongre says, “It was a quick lesson in ignoring patriarchy, misogyny and other forms of toxicity to focus on my own dreams.”

Yet another example of this approach was seen in 2016, when Kate Middleton donned one of Anita Dongre pret’s designs. The number of requests the company received then had crashed its corporate website. “Our operations team set up dedicated production channels to produce this dress and meet the sudden orders influx without delay. We built preparedness into our business model overnight,” recalls Dongre.

The Biggest Game Changer

Following AND, And Designs India that was rebranded to House of Anita Dongre in 2015, added more brands. It is now home to AND, Global Desi, Anita Dongre, Grassroot and jewelry brand Anita Dongre Pink City. While much has changed, Dongre still sees AND as the greatest game-changer.

“AND has been symbolic of the changing face of corporate India. About two decades back, Indian women were making strides into the corporate world. These women had all the skills but there were no Indian brands making clothes for them. With AND, our focus was to ensure these women had clothing that was easy, affordable and to their personality. AND continues to be a brand that designs for the corporate woman. Women still walk up to me and say their first interview was in an AND jacket, or their ‘work wardrobe’ is built of AND staples,” she comments.

Dongre believes one of her biggest strengths comes from not only keeping her customers first but also from believing in herself. She explains, “Design exists for the people who see a purpose in it. Spend time listening to your customers and address the challenges they’re asking solutions for. And trust your gut feeling.”

The sustained growth allowed Dongre to achieve one more “long-standing dream” — launching a store in New York. “This store would turn the global fashion spotlight on Indian craftsmanship. It was a piece of my heart,” she says.

Yet another highlight in her journey came when she met Ela Bhatt and was introduced to Self-Employed Women’s Association of India (SEWA). “The meeting with Elaben finally encouraged me to set up Grassroot, a dream I’ve held for decades — to work with Indian craftspeople and bring their work to the 21st century.”

Fashion – A Force of Good
Dongre was perhaps always on a quest to make fashion “a force of good”. In recent years, her company steered in that direction with some concrete steps. Citing one example, when after being told about an employment issue in Maharashtra villages, Dongre and her team worked to build a scalable plan for women to have means of income in their villages. Within three months of the initial talk, the company built a training module and mobilised resources to ensure almost 200 unskilled women could make garments. “We then made sure they had a job in their village that fed directly into our production setup so that this newly acquired skill could bring them income. Today, we run these village production units in five villages and have our sights set on expanding this impact,” she informs.

Dongre is a firm believer that tapping into women’s natural strengths as leaders and innovators is the key to making progress sustainable for the future. “A significant portion of this conversation lies in providing access — how to ensure that women have access to the workplace, make sure they don’t feel endangered in simply getting to work and back each day. We need to empower our women by providing them sustained, gainful livelihood opportunities in their own villages, without them having to migrate elsewhere,” she notes.

Anita Dongre Foundation focuses on training artisans and providing work in rural India. In the wake of the COVID-19, it also set up a medical fund of Rs 1.5 crore to support smaller vendors, self-employed artisans, and partners who do not have medical insurance or coverage to prepare for medical emergencies arising from the crisis.