Designer Spotlight
Passion for Indian Textiles
Anjana who began building her career in 1994
took a course in textile-designing in the mid-80's.
This piqued her interest in the field. She followed
it up with another intensive course in pattern
cutting in Mumbai, conducted by a pattern
cutter from France. This developed a love for
both textiles and pattern making in her. “Design
is about how you visualise your creations. While
textile design taught me about the touch and
feel of fabric, it was the course in pattern making
that taught me about design. Quality fabrics and
fluid silhouettes became the high point of my
garments,” says Anjana.
The Anjana Bhargava label
Anjana finished her course in fashion styling
from St Martin's College London and launched
her label Anjana Bhargava in 1994. Her label
presented traditional Indian garments, at a
fashion show at the UNESCO Hall, Paris. Over
the years, the label grew steadily as she worked
with artisans, in different traditional textile clusters
in India, to design traditional Indian garments
with a new expression. She continues to only
work with fabrics of natural fibres because she
feels they add value to the fabric by way of subtle
surface design and embroidery. She also designs
garments comfortable for daily wear.
In 2000, Anjana was recommended by the
Ministry of External Affairs to represent 'Women
Entrepreneurs' at the OECD Conference held in
Paris. Over 300 women entrepreneurs across the
globe shared their experiences at the conference.
She also participated at the Bollywood promotion
in Selfridges and was nominated for the
Breakthrough Designer of the Year award for
Lycra MTV style awards in 2003.
Anjana has presented her garments at
fashion shows in London, New York, Germany,
Sharjah, Miami, Kathmandu and Hong Kong. She
has also showcased her garments at the India
Fashion Week, Miami Fashion Week and Toronto
Fashion Week. Her label was one
of the first designer labels to stock with the
Westside group of stores pan India. Anjana
has designed and fabricated jackets for the
prestigious PATA Conference for Delhi Tourism,
she has designed for the Usha International group
of companies, and designed and fabricated
uniforms for Hotel Grand Intercontinental,
New Delhi and the ITC Group of hotels across
the country.
Design Philosophy
“I believe in using high quality fabrics, handwoven
with natural fibres, and in cuts designed
for comfort. This creates graceful silhouettes.
The Anjana Bhargava label resurrects patterns
and skills of ancient arts and brings them into the
rhythm of modern life. It also keeps the accent
on comfort, wearability and affordability. The idea
is to give importance to minimalistic styles while
extending comfort in understated elegance,” says
the designer, of her work that has evolved over
the past 25 years.
26 I APPAREL I August 2020