Ankasa
By : | February 12, 2013

Sachin and Babi Ahluwalia met in 1994 as students at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (he was a fashion design major and she was a textile major). As their fascination with textiles grew, so did their romantic interest in each other converting it into a match made in heaven. It also led them to establish themselves as one of the most sought after power house design teams for celebrated luxury fashion houses like Giorgio Armani, Yves Saint Laurent and Oscar de la Renta creating for them exclusive couture hand embroideries and unique textiles drawn from their shared Indian roots.

saching-babi

The company name Ankasa, comes from Ank meaning a score or mark and ‘asa’ stems from ‘casa’ or home. Luxury home brand is best known for its detailed home decor textiles and ethereal pallet creating brand offering such as fine luxury bedding and exquisitely hand-embroidered pillows, using embroidery techniques steeped in tradition, woven with a modern elegance. Additionally their assemblage also includes exceptionally designed furniture, table decor, lighting, wall art and accessories.

ankasa-sachin

According to Sachin and Babi, “Ankasa is an ode to artistry and old techniques. This is a second-generation business for us. We inherited factories with an artisanal trait behind them. Ankasa is taking age-old techniques that were used to embellish and adorn garments and translating them for today’s modern world. It is the yin and yang of the old meeting the new and making it relevant for today’s modern world. We are preserving the dying art of embroidery. It isn’t mechanized and computer generated. The biggest luxury is that we can create product exactly how we envision it. It is our dream to style our own pieces and present them to our customers in unique ways, season after season.”

ankasa-sachin2

Ankasa for this extraordinaire designer couple has been a labor of love, and they are focused on bringing their passion into people’s home. Attributes which has made the brand aspirational and a tangible investment is because of the fact that it is expertly handcrafted, but it has also been positioned as an heirloom quality, as Ankasa focuses on special moments in life that need to be celebrated with lasting tradition.

ankasa-sachin3

Their flagship stores located at two prime locations in New York, Madison Avenue and Soho Avenue is a visual delight and enamors one and all who step into this beautiful world of Ankasa. The luxury home brand offerings are exceedingly brilliant though an ingenious approach or the perfect accompaniment behind their steady success story is constantly reinventing themselves. The Ahluwalia’s endeavor to translate their vision of modern luxury into a lifestyle brand that is accessible for today’s design savvy consumer is what truly makes them pioneers in their business.

Aekta Kapoor is the editor of Atelier, a monthly luxury lifestyle glossy published from New Delhi and distributed across 25 cities in India and Europe. She is also the editor of Atelier Diva, a monthly magazine for urban Indian women. Prior to her current role, she was part of the launch team of Marie Claire India.
 

INSTAGRAM