For two decades, Anita Kanwar has covered a gamut of ideas for drapes and curtains. She tells Shana Maria Verghis they could be based on themes like Versace. Or use swarosvki, feathers and antique coins
She trained as a dress and textile designer. Her husband worked with an ad agency. And the couple would sometimes travel overseas. It was during the course of such trips, that Anita Kanwar who runs a studio which has designed windows for Palace on Wheels, The Oberoi Group (Udaivilas, Vanyavilas etc) and Ananda in the Himalayas, decided to open a window dressing business.
Called ‘Window Passions,’ Kanwar describes her firm as very exclusive.
Anita has taken orders for many upmarket clients. She remarked, “Twenty years ago, the way you decorated your window, was to visit a store, pick up material, then have it stitched by a tailor. Nothing was done specifically for interiors, per se. This is why we opened the studio.”
Kanwar added, “Traditionally, windows were designed with embroidery. The contemporary style is straightline. We like to meet the client first so we get a concept to fit what they have in mind. Interiors and soft furnishings are entirely need-based. And when it comes to ideas, the imagination has no limits. In the case of jewellery, there are, say, a few carats when it comes to gold. But in fashion, you can get really bizarre. An example is when we used antique coins for drapes. We have also employed old jamavars as curtains. It all depends on the customer. Other ideas have featured feathers and different kinds of techniques applied to the fabric like foiling and weaving.”
She has even used zardozi and swarovski for some of their fashionable curtains.
With a hint of pride in her voice she remarked, “We don’t do run-of-mill designs. For example, if there is a Versace theme, we pick a motif and a certain embroidery. Our concepts are coordinated.” One order she handled was for a Grecian theme “with traditional embroidery.”
Another was French, for which “we had to find textiles. If it was the Versailles palace they wanted, we would study the history of the yarn, the designs.”
Kanwar told us that when it comes to windows in India, “jharokhas and chik blinds are timeless.” Informing that, “We put chik blinds to great use in all the Vilases, which had to blend Indian heritage in the design. I have also used handicrafts in our designs with items like beads, glass and sequins.”
As part of design concepts, her company also create rods, laces, and various other accessories.
The main aspect about home decor, is that “people have become house proud. So they show off their interior, unlike in the past.”
Her summer tip is pretty basic: “sheer, breezy fabrics, avoiding heavy velveteen drapes.”