Anita Dongre is one of the most successful fashion designers of the country. Bollywood A-listers wear her designer clothes regularly. The 59-year-old designer's business centres around artisans and their respective crafts. She started the business with two sewing machines. The Mumbai woman now employs over 2,500 people, has hundreds of stores in India and abroad.
Apart from exquisite designs, the practicality she offers is her USP. She was one of the first designers to add pockets to lehengas. She tries to offer outfits that cater to the wider mass of people with multiple levels of affordability. People from India and abroad -- including many celebrities -- have worn clothes from her stores. She is one of the biggest brands in the Indian fashion scene.
In February, she launched a mega store in Mumbai that sells clothes and accessories designed from the house of Anita Dongre. In 2016, she opened her flagship store in Delhi.
The Mumbai store with a heritage architecture came about after 18 months of back-breaking work. The idea behind the store was to make people forget Mumbai and give them the taste of some Rajasthan palace, she told Mint in an interview in February.
She comes from a middle-class family. She was born in Mumbai. She was one among six children. As was the norm in those days, she learnt some embroidery.
However, that early brush with designing became her que to launch herself into this art and business.
In 1982, when she told her intentions of starting the business, they weren't happy as she was still studying fashion designing. However, she prevailed. The biggest validation came in 1984 when her very first clothes exhibition was completely sold out. She became the first woman in her family to be financially independent.
Her company, AND Designs India Limited, was formed in 1995. Their workshop was in Dharavi. Their business was so successful that they opened another store in just four years.
In 2007, she opened a company called Global Desi. The prices of the product start from Rs 1000. She also launched a jewellery brand called Pinkcity in 2013.
In 2018, she launched her store in New York. Her latest offering is her own line of vegan accessories. All great business moves.
She has had external funding as well. The Future Group acquired 22.9 percent stake in her company. It exited in 2013. A US company bought 23 percent of shares for 23 percent.
She considers work as her religion. She tries to come to work every day. She also entered philanthropy in 2015. She set up the Anita Dongre Foundation that helps set up a tailoring unit in a Maharashtra village that helps women become financially independent.
Her company's revenue crossed Rs 1,000 crore last year. She has been generating revenues north of Rs 500 crore for several years now. In 2019, her revenue was Rs 789 crore, reported the newspaper.
