This top couturier was the first to get corporate funding, move her workshop and workforce into a Navi Mumbai building, open two flagship stores in New York and Dubai, use only vegan leather, and empower kaarigars countrywide, including female artisans of SEWA (an NGO started in Gujarat) whose handmade textiles and crafts she uses in her ready-to-wear and couture pieces. Today, Anita Dongre continues to support Indian craft through her dreamy yet extremely wearable collections. Case in point: at her latest couture showcase at Jaipur’s magnificent City Palace, each one of her outfits was lauded for its modernity, intricacy and nod to the city that framed her aesthetic since childhood.
A go-getter ever since those idyllic holidays