Anamika Khanna’s AK|OK at the London Fashion Week celebrates nostalgia, Indian craft and more

The long-lasting toy retailer Hamleys at Regent Avenue, London, would possibly at first sound like an unlikely setting for a style present. However for designer Anamika Khanna’s label AK|OK’s debut on the London Vogue Week on September 22, the venue gave the impression to be the proper selection.

AK|OK’s debut assortment had fashions sashaying previous cabinets of toy vehicles, plushies and extra. It delves into nostalgia, honours the designer’s endeavour to have a look at India with a contemporary lens and celebrates the nation’s textile and craft heritage.

“I’ve all the time felt that there was a must push the boundaries on the subject of presenting India wherever on the planet. And after I began eager about this assortment, particularly what we have been going to indicate at London Vogue Week, I considered this cool Indian London woman,” Anamika says. “This woman has roots in India as a result of she has Indian grandparents, and when she visits them, she discovers a number of items. I thought of what she would do with these items when she obtained again, and that is the place the gathering story began,” the designer says. 

Anamika Khanna attends the AK|OK SS26 present throughout London Vogue Week
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

The gathering consists of flowy capes, slouchy trousers, lengthy coats, and outsized shirts that includes parts of reimagined conventional craft. Chikankari embroidery, as an illustration, options on lengthy coats, and silver parts referencing Indian jewelry characteristic on denims, skirts and boots. Working with nuances such because the Indian churidar or angrakha silhouettes on this assortment and to have a look at them from the lens of a foreigner, Anamika says, have been issues she personally discovered very thrilling. 

“I’m so happy with my heritage. That is the place I come from. I wish to derive from right here and but make garments that neither seem like a fancy dress, nor are unapproachable and unwearable. This turns into a problem, as to the place to attract the road. So, all of this collectively was one thing I had to remember,” Anamika explains. 

Sonam Kapoor on the AK|OK SS26 present throughout London Vogue Week
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

After eight exhibits in India over the past 4 years, for AK|OK, Anamika says the London debut solely felt pure given how the town is style ahead, experimental and accepting. 

“AK|OK, for the reason that time of its inception, all the time had international ambitions and the potential to be a model out of India that’s related by way of ready-to-wear style. Clearly for that, you want your garments to be showcased and also you want individuals to see them in a sure method which is why I felt like London as a platform grew to become actually necessary, given how it is vitally receptive to completely different cultures.” she says. 

Jacqueline Fernandez on the AK|OK SS26 present
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association

With the London debut being a pivotal level in AK|OK’s journey, Anamika says that the model continues to evolve each single day. “It is sort of a complete universe, and never nearly style. It’s a few life-style, it’s a few mindset — both you might be AK|OK or you aren’t. It’s a few lifestyle the place you enable ease, and it begins with the way in which you gown,” she says. An increasing number of individuals, she says, are getting the model’s ethos. “For those who make a mistake, it’s okay. If you’re not good, it’s okay. For those who’re sporting the improper combine and match, it’s okay as nicely,” Anamika says, encapsulating what the model stands for, in style and in any other case. 

This 12 months, Anamika branched out in the direction of South India along with her first flagship retailer in Hyderabad, designed Isha Ambani’s MET Gala outfit, and opened Lakme Vogue Week along with her assortment, Silver Collar. “It has come to some extent the place the extra creatively I’m challenged, the higher it’s. I’m on this mindspace… style is like that,” she laughs.

About what else this 12 months has in retailer for her, Anamika says, “We’ve additionally simply completed capturing for our couture assortment, have luggage arising, and I’m trying ahead to the opening of one other Mumbai retailer.”

Printed – September 23, 2025 03:31 pm IST