In a 2018 TED Talk titled, Confluence in Conflict, Anamika Khanna said she started her career as an underdog. “I was this no-fashion-degree girl from a ‘village’ called Calcutta... compared to the Delhi-s and the Bombay-s.” Between launching her namesake brand in the early ’90s to now, the couturier has stayed rooted to a holistic mix of intuition and nerve, and a single-minded focus on India. 

Khanna, 49, is considered one of the pillars of global Indian style, along with a few male designers, of course, whose catwalk careers coincided with the launch of the country’s first organised fashion week in 2000. So, when it came to celebrating the coming together of Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and Lakmé Fashion Week (led by Rise Worldwide) after a 15-year split, it’s little surprise that the organisers chose her to open the joint fashion season with a primetime 8 pm slot on March 16. She calls it a fantastic opportunity for two reasons. “The coming together of FDCI and LFW is comforting. Secondly, I’m enjoying the liberties that a digital platform allows. The pandemic has made us all realise the fragility of life itself. With my collection, I want to highlight the value of preserving our textiles; they are precious. The lockdown also compelled me to rethink certain decisions: why did I showcase 25 outfits at a show, for instance. Was it to make a point? [There’s] no need for insecurity,” she says over a call from Kolkata where she continues to live and work.