Anamika Khanna Wiki, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Anamika Khanna is an Indian fashion designer and philanthropist who is known for her style of traditional Indian textiles and techniques with Western silhouettes and tailoring.

Wiki/Biography

Anamika Khanna was born on Monday, 19 July 1971 (age 52 years; as of 2023) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. Her zodiac sign is Cancer. She moved to Kolkata at a very early age with her family. She completed her schooling at the M B Girls High School, Kolkata, and pursued graduation in arts at Loreto College, Kolkata. ^[1]Hindustan Times Anamika also attended numerous fashion workshops held in places like the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and different universities in Paris. ^[2]Mint She is settled in Kolkata, India.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 4″

Hair Colour: Natural Black

Eye Colour: Dark Brown

Family

Parents & Siblings

There is not much information about her parents. Anamika has two sisters, Suruchi Choksi, and Suhani Pittie. Suruchi is an abstract artist, and Suhani is an Indian jewellery designer. ^[3]Verve Magazine

Husband & Children

Anamika Khanna got married to her long-time boyfriend at the age of 25. They had an inter-caste marriage, and the couple later got blessed with twin sons, Viraj Khanna, who is a sculptor, a collage artist, and a fashion entrepreneur, and Vishesh Khanna, who is a fashion designer.

Career

Fashion Designing

Being an art student, Anamika Khanna used to sketch during her college days, and her friends persuaded her to send her designs for a fashion award. Her designs got selected and was asked to present a fashion show, and before that, she had never made a garment. She made her entry into the fashion industry as a designer in the early 1990s and launched her label ‘Anamika Khanna’ in Kolkata in 1998. Her label is known for its bridal, casual, and formal collection of apparel. She was part of India’s first Lakme Fashion Week, held in New Delhi in 1999. ^[4]Hindustan Times In 2005, Anamika participated in the Will’s Fashion Week Spring/Summer edition in which she showcased her collection ‘The Botanist,’ and in the same year, she participated in the London Fashion Week. ^[5]Fashion Design Council of India In 2008, Anamika took part in the HDIL India Couture Week held in Mumbai in which she displayed her signature-styled cowl-shaped dress, which was almost similar to the dhoti worn by Mahatma Gandhi. ^[6]The Times Group In 2010, Anamika showcased her autumn/winter collection at the Indian Premier London Fashion Week, which was held at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London, ^[7]Fashion United and in the following year, she displayed her collection at the Lakme Summer Resort. In 2013, she took part in the PCJ Delhi Couture Week in which she presented her designs of shararas, vests, and coats with a colour combination of black, white, and gold. The tribal jewellery presented to the models wearing Anamika Khanna’s designs was from her sister Suhani Pittie‘s jewellery label. ^[8]Vogue India

In the same year, at her first Delhi Couture Week outing, Anamika revealed how her famous ‘Dhoti Pant’ design came to life. She once saw and got fascinated by a pujari (priest) who worked in a temple adjacent to Anamika’s factory, wearing a dhoti, and she ended up asking him for his assistance in draping a dhoti (mainly a men’s clothing item) to a woman’s mannequin. The designer then made her improvisations to the clothing item by adding a luxury cloth to it and making it ready-to-wear rather than tying it up manually, and that is how the famous dhoti pants came into existence. ^[9]NMACC In 2014, Anamika Khanna collaborated with the Italian luxury brand ‘BVLGARI’ (also written as ‘Bulgari’) for their new store opening in New Delhi. ^[10]DLF Emporio

In 2016, Anamika collaborated with Amrapali Jewels for her debut jewellery collection, ‘Anamika Khanna X Amrapali Jaipur Collection.’ Her jewellery collection was designed with rubies and emeralds. ^[11]Elle India

Bollywood Projects

Anamika Khanna has designed clothes for many Bollywood movies like ‘Fashion’ (2008), ‘Aisha’ (2010), ‘Mausam’ (2011), ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ (2013), and ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ (2015).

Awards

• In 2004, Anamika Khanna received the Exports Council Award.

• In 2004, she received the Excellence Award for Outstanding Boutique (Female).

• In 2004, she received the MTV Lycra Style Awards – Designer of the Year, and the Kingfisher Designer of the Year Award.

• In 2006, she received the FICCI Ladies Organization’s Young Woman Achiever’s Award.

• In 2007, she received the Marudhar Gaurav Award at the Kolkata chapter of the Rajasthan Foundation. ^[12]Fashion Design Council of India

• In 2010, Anamika received the prestigious Bharat Nirman Award.

• In 2016, Anamika received the ‘Designer of the Year Award’ at the Hello Hall of Fame Awards.

• In 2016, she was appointed as a speaker in the fourth edition of TEDx IIM Shillong to share her views on the theme ‘Confluence in Conflict.’

• In 2017, she received the ‘Indian Affairs Fashion Designer of the Year Award’ at the  8th Annual India Leadership Conclave & Indian Affairs Business Leadership Awards.

• In 2018, Anamika Khanna received the ‘Designer of the Year Award’ at the Vogue Women of the Year Awards.

• In 2019, she received the ‘HT Most Stylish Designer Award’ at the Hindustan Times India’s Most Stylish Awards.

• In 2023, Anamika received the ‘Trailblazing Fashion Designer of the Year Award’ at the Pinkvilla Style Icons Awards.

 

Favourites

• Food: Sondesh, Pasta

• Cuisine(s): Thai, Indian, Chinese

• Actor: Amitabh Bachchan

• Actress: Sonam Kapoor

• Author: Haruki Murakami

• Book: Fifty Dresses that Changed the World by Design Museum Enterprise Limited

• TV show(s): Criminal Minds (2005), Law & Order (1990), Suits (2011)

• Restaurant: Chinoiserie at Taj Bengal, Kolkata

• Colour: White

• Movie(s): ‘Scarface’ (1983), ‘Sholay’ (1975), ‘Life Is Beautiful’ (1997)

Facts/Trivia

• Anamika Khanna considers famous personalities like Karl Lagerfeld, and Vivienne Westwood, and singers like Madonna, Tina Turner, and Bruce Springsteen her biggest inspiration behind getting into the fashion industry. She considers Madonna her role model in fashion. Anamika also credits her mother and maternal grandmother for imbibing an innovative sense of style in her.

• In 2003, Anamika Khanna was invited to participate and showcase her bridal collection at the Bridal Asia show in Karachi, Pakistan. ^[13]The Times of India

• In 2004, Anamika collaborated with international apparel promoters Amit and Radhika Rastogi to launch India’s first international fashion label, and she showcased her collections at the Lakme Fashion Week’s grand finale. The brand named “Ana-Mika for Boho” is the main flagship venture of Boho-London. ^[14]Hindustan Times

• In 2008, her collection at the HDIL Couture Week was considered ‘one of the best collections seen on the ramp.’ ^[15]Anamika Khanna

• In 2009, Anamika was featured on the 25 Most Powerful Women in India List. ^[16]India Today

• In 2010, she was offered an exclusive contract with the British Retail Giant Harrod’s after her participation in the London Fashion Week.

• In 2011, Anamika designed the clothes that Simi Garewal wore in her talk show ‘Simi Selects India’s Most Desirable.’ She also designed a velvet lehenga weighing 10 kg, which was gifted by Simi Garewal to the international singer Lady Gaga, on the talk show. The lehenga was studded with pearls, gold, and silver. ^[17]Hindustan Times

• In 2012, Anamika organized a fashion show named ‘Falak ki Jhalak,’ which helped her raise funds for underprivileged cancer patients at the Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata.

• In the Delhi Couture Week 2012, she made a fusion of the Indian craft with a sensual style, which was never seen in India before.

• In 2017, Anamika Khanna was invited by Elizabeth II, the former Queen of the United Kingdom, and Prince Philip, the former Duke of Edinburgh, during the start of the UK-India Year of Culture. ^[18]Verve Magazine
  

  Anamika Khanna (right) at the UK-India Year of Culture

• In 2017, she was invited as a guest speaker in the panel discussion on ‘Leadership Challenges for Women in the VUCA World’ at the India Conference, a student-run conference held at Harvard Business School, Boston, and the Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge. ^[19]India Conference
  

  Anamika Khanna delivering a speech at the Harvard Business School, Boston

• In 2019, Anamika Khanna along with her twin sons, Viraj and Vishesh, started a brand called ‘AK-OK,’ which was a collaboration venture with Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL). This brand was launched after Anamika suffered from a Transient ischemic attack (TIA) in the same year. ^[20]The Voice of Fashion

• In 2019, the Indian fashion watchdog ‘Diet Sabya’ made an Instagram post of a side-by-side comparison of Anamika Khanna’s “AK-OK” design and Air Jordon sneakers inspired by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour’s ‘AWOK’ signature. The post featured Indian actress Sonam Kapoor’s picture wearing Anamika Khanna’s design at Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s wedding in December 2018. Diet Sabya made an allegation on Anamika about releasing a plagiarised design and copying the ‘AWOK’ signature. However, Sonam Kapoor came in support of her designer friend and made an Instagram post dedicated to Anamika and her struggles. Even though the post made by Diet Sabya was later deleted but one of their spokesperson stated in an interview that the entire post was rather a fact and not made up. ^[21]The Hindustan Times
  

  Diet Sabya’s Instagram post after deleting their controversial post about Anamika Khanna

  

  Sonam Kapoor’s Instagram post in support of Anamika Khanna

• Before entering the fashion design industry, Anamika Khanna was a trained classical dancer and painter. She also used to sketch very well. ^[22]Mint

• During her college days, she read an African book about textiles and that made her enter into the fashion world. She then used a sewing machine to compare and contrast different cloth fabrics and materials to understand it better. After months of self-practice, she created a garment that won the Damania Award, a prestigious Indian fashion design accolade in 1995. She was also inducted into the Damania Hall of Fame. ^[23]Mint ^[24]Anamika Khanna

• The ffolio store in Bangalore, and Ogaan in Delhi, were the first stores that purchased Anamika Khanna’s designs.

• Anamika was the first Indian women designer to showcase her collection in the Paris Fashion Week in 2007. ^[25]LinkedIn – Anamika Khanna

• She was on ‘The Business of Fashion 500 List’ (a list of the people shaping the $2.4 trillion fashion industry) for five consecutive years (2013-2018) ^[26]The Business of Fashion

• In 2023, Anamika Khanna was featured in the HELLO! 100 Most Influential List. ^[27]HELLO! India Magazine

• Anamika considers Sonam Kapoor as the ‘most stylish Bollywood celebrity.’ ^[28]The Indian Express

• Anamika’s 2019 fall collection couture is showcased in the largest museum for visual art in southwest America the ‘Phoenix Art Museum.’ ^[29]Anamika Khanna

• Anamika Khanna loves to play golf, and her favourite golf club is the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata.

• Many famous personalities like Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Nita Ambani, Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia, and Oprah Winfrey have worn Anamika Khanna’s designed clothes.

• Anamika Khanna has been featured on the covers of many famous magazines like Vogue, Elle, Hi! BLITZ, Harper Bazaar Bride, and Grazia.
  

  Anamika Khanna on the cover of Vogue Magazine (2013)