How this designer brings a sense of calm and balance in the world of fleeting trends

"Even if I had to start today and erase everything I have done in the last 14 years, I would be as excited,” quips Anavila Misra about the future of Indian craftsmanship. But it took her these formidable years to disrupt the fashion industry with the first-ever linen sari, collaborate with various clusters, experiment with different weaves, launch a couture collection, expand to a home line, and create a sustainable ecosystem.

Sitting at her atelier in Gurgaon, it feels surreal to recapitulate Misra’s journey. The space mirrors her minimalist design vocabulary, one that is defined by purpose. She tells me about the grapevine and pomegranate tree at the entrance that she credits her security guard, Satish ji, with the same intent as the dabu blocks from the campaign visuals of her ‘Dabu’ collection (2023) stacked in one corner, or the old wood-carved mirror she picked up on one of her Chennai trips.

Misra is not the one who would mistake luxury for opulence. For the uninitiated, the designer launched her eponymous brand in 2011 and has ever since carved a niche for herself with her simplistic design vocabulary, which is based on a complex innovation process and meticulous attention to detail. Her undying love for textiles leads back to Misra’s time working in pan-India craft cluster projects, long before the inception of her brand. Working closely with local artisans and craftspeople set her on a path to explore our multifaceted craft heritage.

There were two completely different worlds back in the day, according to Misra. While artisans in states like Rajasthan had access to Indian and international designers, the other rural craft clusters did not have that exposure. “They didn’t even understand the market they were catering to; they had not travelled out of their villages,” the designer stresses. It was when Misra was working with 10,000 artisans for design technology and marketing interventions through a NIFT project, the disconnect somewhat dawned upon her. “We conducted workshops where artisans could visit NIFT campuses, and students would go to their villages. It facilitated close interactions to understand each other.” A few instances resonated with her deeply when she saw artisans create something that would turn out to be inferior in terms of quality. “While they put their hearts out, the colour of the product may end up bleeding...I wanted to change that.”

 

“The premise with which we started was everyday luxury—the idea was to make clothing enjoyable, easy, comfortable, and minimalistic. And that’s how, actually, the linen study came into being. The initial three to four years went into experimenting and developing the textile,” she recollects. It took her an additional six to seven months to identify a weaver who would be ready to experiment on the loom. “While on government-backed projects, I had worked with artisans from Shantiniketan in West Bengal for leather and kantha, and Phulia for jamdani and taant weaves. It took me a while to find someone who agreed to take up the challenge of weaving a linen sari. He had to redo his loom for me.” The end product went on to change perceptions and garner attention—from local exhibitions in Mumbai to her Lakmé Fashion Week debut in 2014.

While the elegance of the six-yard continues to be intrinsic to Misra’s design ethos, she is not limited to it. She started incorporating stitched garments and experimented with textiles, including jamdani, khadi, silk, and wool, along the way. “We kept our edge by doing something new with linen every time. We tried khatwa, sujni, and applique, and created a lot of textures with linen by inserting silk or different yarns. Eventually, a time came when our loyal customers started engaging with the brand with passion and insisted that we make garments. That is when we finally took the plunge and started with kurtas.”

 

The prelude to Misra’s first bridal couture collection, Aamod, in 2023 was her incredible love for the warp and weft of the loom. It was a disruption of the bridal trousseau, which is often weighed down by over-ornamentation and design complexities. Lehangas, saris, and kaftans were imagined in diaphanous khadi silks and linen with zari showcasing khatwa motifs or lehariya prints. She consciously refrained from extensive surface ornamentations.

Misra’s latest collection, Sarmast, showcased in Hyderabad in June to mark her retail expansion, rightfully encapsulated the ecstatic soul of the city. Sumptuous textiles, including hand-woven linens with zari, soft silks, organzas, and brocades, became canvases for French laces and crochet details. Trust her to view opulent cultural references from a subliminal lens. Earlier this year, she expanded into home décor with a collection of home textiles and furnishings inspired by the Birhor tribe of Jharkhand. Designed with earthy tones, functional forms, and natural materials, the range reflects her slow-fashion philosophy applied to living spaces. There are glimpses of her penchant for home décor at Misra’s atelier and workspace—from simple rattan furniture, a small section showcasing her said home line, blockprint moulds collected as souvenirs, to Busa, the sari-clad dolls that the designer made from leftover fabrics.

For the designer, creating a more holistic lifestyle brand with a new kidswear line and tapping into the nuances of home collection will be a natural progression. “For example, when we talk about our clothes, we talk about khadi being comfortable and woven in a certain way, or using vegetable dyes. Similarly, the bed we sleep on is of utmost importance. While sleep studies talk about the right mattress and sheet, linen is the most restorative textile when it comes to your sleep.”

Misra believes that being at the forefront of design, if you want to create value that goes beyond the garment, you have to slowly make your collective, whether it is the artisans or the people in your team. “The person who worked on our home collection is now a master; he was a tailor when I met him. As a brand, you have a design direction and an understanding of the market; you can put the product together, but the skills come from the artisans. It’s important to respect the fact that you are building on a skill which has been handed over from one generation to another, and that they are the caretakers,” she explains.

The designer sees herself as a catalyst, while the real custodians of craft are the artisans. She started mentioning the names of her artisans and clusters, and sent out photographs long before the well-marketed fashion campaigns of today. Some people questioned her on that for a simple reason: Other designers would approach her artisans or clusters for work. “But isn’t that the whole purpose?” Misra asks rhetorically. Her views take precedence over the ongoing discourse in fashion, outlining the nature and extent of collaborations between designers and artisans.

As we circle back to the prospect of Indian craftsmanship, the designer explains, “There are immense possibilities and a collective responsibility of the design fraternity. We have barely scratched the surface in terms of design. We can’t blame the West for saying that we have been treated as resource centres, because what did we do? The question lingers.” As an industry, Misra feels, we are only gearing up—the homegrown brands are pushing the boundaries. “For example, the North East market was untouched for a very long time, and now the brands emerging from the region are ready to take over the world. Those crafts have always existed, but now they are making a conscious effort to say that we will be our own voice. It is an exciting time to create as long as we do it mindfully.”

All images: Tongpangnuba Longchari 

This article first appeared in the August-September 2025 issue of Harper's Bazaar India

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