Anand Kabra’s eclectic designs have found inspiration in the soft cubist works of Tamara de Lempicka and the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca in the past. His 2008 Fall-Winter collection was influenced by Renato’s Malena and Monica Bellucci’s ethereal beauty was made manifest by detailed flower motifs. “My inspiration is almost autobiographical. I am quite sensitive to my surroundings and my clothes always reflect the mood or phase I am going through…. It’s always a story that I tell through my clothes,” he says. It isn’t surprising that his fluid creations are so successful as he invariably returns to a female muse. And his playful use of colours, which lends his creations a feminine appeal without appearing frivolous is fast becoming his USP. “There is a strength in design that resonates with a self confident and self-aware woman,” he insists and it’s this pragmatism that carries over to his work ethic as well. Reinventing khadi to make it playful by stripping it of its partisan associations is next on his agenda. “Fashion to me is a form of commercialised art. It is meant to be worn and not hung on walls. A designer needs to go beyond his vision to translate it into commercial reality for the real woman.” We couldn’t agree more.

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