The American first lady's personal stylist picked up an entire range from Indian-born New York-based Kanika Saluja's collection. FYI caught up with the designer who chooses robust ball bearings and screws over flashy Swarovski
The American first lady's personal stylist picked up an entire range from Indian-born New York-based Kanika Saluja's collection. FYI caught up with the designer who chooses robust ball bearings and screws over flashy Swarovski
First impressions need not be defining. How else would you figure that a 45 year-old woman draped in a
georgette salwar-kameez, speaking Hindi heavily laced with a Gujarati accent, would go straight for an
erotic neckpiece to please her husband back home in Ahmedabad?
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This shopper left accessory designer Kanika Saluja pleasantly surprised, when she dropped by at a jewellery stall she'd put up at the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.
Sometimes though, first impressions can be all-defining. They are with Kanika, at least. Pixie haircut masking her head like a helmet, scarlet red lipstick sitting stylishly on a pierced chin.
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Pointed-toe cowboy boots stretching up to her knees. Electric blue nail polish that doesn't seem like a distraction.
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Kanika has to be the creator of funky ideas. "Fashion designing is 70% business, 30% ingenuity. Production is the most important aspect of the profession, though.
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What's the point of designing great clothes when you can't deliver merchandise to stores on time?"
Her refreshing masculine approach to the business of fashion spills on to her brand of clothing and jewellery, Anaikka.
An established name in New York, Kanika decided to make noise about the jewellery before she launched her clothing line in India. For her, Swarovski and other pretty embellishments are an aberration.
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"I'm obsessed with machinery; ball bearings, screws, springs, nuts and bolts are treated to look like body pieces meant to be worn over clothes or on their own."
Strong historical figures and epic movies Jhansi ki Rani, Egyptian Ferro, Cleopatra, Napoleon and Hollywood fantasy movie, Lord of the Rings are just a few
inspirations.
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You can check out Anaikka jewellery at Zoya, Gulistan, 184-D'monte Park Road, Bandra (W). pic/shadab khan |
Sculpted with austere, asymmetrical cuts, each piece coaxes the wearer to explore the dark side.
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"It's for Alpha females," confesses the 33 year-old, who believes Indian women have finally matched steps with their contemporaries in New York while making bold choices.
But she's equally amused by men. "The Claustrophobia choker is a favourite with some men," she smirks.
Born in a family with roots in the textile industry, Kanika remembers spending endless hours in her
mother's beading factories on the outskirts of New Delhi.
At 16, she moved to New York to study law, but found herself bored. Her next course of action? A degree in marketing and economics from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, that came in handy while helping designer brother Arjun Saluja launch his line, Rishta in New York.
The practical experience pumped her up with raring-to-go confidence to start her own design label. Her first collection: a range of deconstructed and embellished T-shirts that sold in 80 stores worldwide.
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The overwhelming feedback spiraled into a spunky brand that has dressed international celebrities Tyra Banks, Ivanka Trump, Paris and Nicky Hilton, singers Hilary Duff, Sarah McLachlan, Rihanna and Ashanti, and actresses Mischa Barton and Jenny McCarthy.
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"Michelle Obama's personal stylist Ikram Goldman has picked up our entire clothing range. We are hoping to see the First Lady in Anaikka soon."
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