Indian designer Anamika Khanna to be H&M’s next collaboration

Indian designer Anamika Khanna is set to be the next collaboration with Swedish brand H&M, according to an announcement on the high street retailer’s website on Thursday.

She is only the second Indian designer to collaborate with the brand.

In 2021, popular Indian couturier Sabyasachi became the first Indian designer brand to collaborate with H&M, selling out in minutes online.

“Anamika Khanna’s designs exist outside of trends. Her creativity is instinctual, driven by an eclectic sense of curiosity, a passion for experimentation and a deep respect for craft and tradition,” H&M stated on its website.

“Since launching her eponymous brand in 1998, Khanna has been a driving influence in recontextualising Indian fashion and translating the country’s rich craft traditions to the wider world.”

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The website also offered a sneak peak at the upcoming collection, comprising of fluid silhouettes, stunning patchwork prints and hand-embroidered embellishments, offering a “dynamic dialogue between Indian and Western style codes”.

Khanna spoke of the collaboration saying how Indian clothes are not considered “wearable” or “modern” enough.

She added how she wears all her own designs.

“It becomes very personal.”

“Take the patchwork Parsi coat, for example, which is inspired by different crafts of India. It can be super Indian. But it can also be super Western. You can style it with a pair of jeans, you can wear a pair of shorts with it, or you can wear it with a sari underneath.

“I have always felt that Indian fashion gets lost when interpreted globally. Often, our fashion is regarded as costume or not wearable or modern enough. Since I started as a designer, I have been interested in taking Indian style, textiles, crafts and everything that I grew up with and looking at it in a more modern context.

“I felt that Indian fashion should not be confined only to India but that it should be shared with the rest of the world. This collection with H&M has given me an opportunity to take something Indian, in essence, and make it contemporary for an international audience.”

Previous collaborations with designers have included Balmain, Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli, Marni and more.

“We’ve been here since 2015 and see this as a promising market,” Ann-Sofie Johansson, Head of Design for Womenswear and Creative Advisor at H&M, was quoted as saying by Vogue India.

“We currently have around 64 stores and hope to open more. It’s a growing market, but we’ll have to wait and see how it evolves. We’ll continue with such collaborations, like the one we did with the Korean designer Rok Hwang this spring. It’s great to present independent designers to a wider audience.”

The Anamika Khanna H&M collection will be available in selected stores and online from September 5.