Anita Dongre who was born in Bandra, West Mumbai on October 3, 1963 is a fashion designer from India. She is the founder of Indian fashion house, the House of Anita Dongre.
Currently she has four different brands, namely AND (Western-style clothing), Global Desi (ethnic-style clothing), Anita Dongre (wedding dresses, couture dresses and men’s clothing), and Anita Dongre Grassroot (clothing that repented from organic materials). Along with her couture brand, she launched her jewelry brand Anita Dongre Pink City, which was also displayed under the House of Anita Dongre.
Anita Dongre the PETA activist
Dongre is a vegan activist and member of the animal rights organization, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). That explains why the product is guaranteed to be free from cruelty because she does not use any leather or cashmere in her brand, the House of Anita Dongre.
Stressing the very important role of Design for fashion sustainability, Dongre gives a touch to the need to educate designers about sustainable fibers and reduce fabric waste. Paying attention to empowering women through economic independence – she mentioned that fashion is an extraordinary tool for returning jobs to villages in India.
To accelerate the transition to a more sustainable industry, she put forward the ideas of audit institutions and so that they consider looking beyond conventional company profit and loss assessments to also incorporate the social & environmental impacts made.
Anita Dongre Embraces Communities to Care for the Environment
The company she created is also collaborating with a network of NGOs and independent craftsmen of the sustainable fashion brand, Anita Dongre Grassroot. They provide a consistent source of income for craftsmen, empowering and creating better livelihoods for them.
Born of the need to revive and maintain the traditions of Indian handicrafts, Anita Dongre Grassroot translates crafts from the hereditary heritage of Indian art into contemporary art while continuing to prioritize sustainability in each of its designs. This effort reverses the effects of labor migration while embracing a good design for planet earth.
This vision is very clear to the House of Anita Dongre. She said that as an Indian company, they will grow with sustainability as their core and aim to become the first sustainable fashion house in India. Anita Dongre said that she wanted to grow slowly, meaningfully, and gracefully.
