A journalist, a branding professional, a marketing maestro, a conservationist, a national award winner are some of the adjectives one could find themselves using to define the multi-hyphenate powerhouse, Anshu Khanna, but the one she personally prefers is that of a heritage revivalist. And rightly so. Her decade-old venture, Royal Fables, is an initiative like no other – a nod to the tradition of palace karkhanas of Indian royals – a fertile ground of craft and culture – her project narrates stories of legacy and luxury in its purest form through apparel, art and jewellery, “During my tenure as a journalist and public relations head, I kept meeting these royals who were doing a spectacular work to conserve their culture but they were too shy to come into the market so I decided to Royal Fables to give them way,” says Khanna, reiterating the central idea behind her endeavour. Scroll down to read many such excerpts from the interview…

On what it means to be conservationist in the present-day scenario…

A conservationist is not just someone who just conserves a craft but also takes it forward. For instance, if I go to Ireland and I want Irish linen, it needs to be cut in a style that goes with the way I dress today. If I wanted to buy a petit point bag, it will be in a colour scheme that I enjoy. Closer home, if it’s a Pichwai painting, instead of fifty different colours, there will be fewer astute hues that will go with the modern palette but the cows will still have red feet and big doe eyes and placement of the cows will be as per the traditional Pichwai painting.

On what goes into curating the collections…

Traditionally the phrase “Made for Maharajas” came from the fact that each of the royal families brought in the master craftsmen of the region and created a karkhana or workshop for them within their palace premises. In return, these craftsmen produced products for the Maharajas. These karkhanas became the means for the royals to encourage local craftsmen and elevate the standard of the local art form. Take for example, The City Palace of Jaipur which has twenty two karkhanas still existing consist of hand block printers, craftsmen who are experts in gota patti, others who specialize in inlay work and so on. What sets them apart however is the exclusivity, they refine the craft to a level where the royals can wear it. The difference between what you get at Palace Karkhanas By Royal Fables and what you would get on the street is that the colour ways and designs have been evolved yet the craft as a science is kept intact. So, while curating these collections, there are certain bastions of royal dressing and we reiterate upon – the block printed cotton ensembles, the ombre dyed chiffons, the vintage borders, the capes, the poshakhs which are a unique kind of lehenga – we keep reinventing and highlighting these key styles through our collections.

On the Palace Karkhanas muse..

The young woman who respects her heritage and the old woman who wants to conserve her heritage or anyone who understands the sheer poetry of everything handmade.

On the Nykaa Fashion collection…

The block prints we have featured are from Jai Kirti, the princess of Baria. She is known for her vast collection of block prints and her cottons that are the most long lasting and get softer with every wear. The capes in the collection are also from her – the embroideries on the capes are vintage motifs revived. Back in those days the royals would wear lightweight chiffon saris and when they didn’t want to wear a shawl, they would wear these capes which were adopted from the European royals. Then there are some beautiful leheriya saris with vintage borders – the leheriyas are tie-dyed and not printed. Even the ombre saris are purely hand dyed. You’ll also find chiffons with borders that feature some truly intricate embroideries and cut work – its where you burn the fabric in the desired pattern and then embroider around it. The pièce de résistance, however, is the black and blue sari with khadi ka kaam because of a very interesting backstory – all the royals in Rajasthan unfailingly wear black and midnight blues only on Diwali, and not on any other day.This is because it is Ekadashi, it’s a moonless night and there’s also a history of how the entire Jaipur dynasty got destroyed on the Diwali day so they wear it in solidarity to that. The sari in the collection is a museum remake of the original saris in the Jaipur museum.

On advice to an aspiring conservationist…

Just be true to what you’re doing, don’t try and take shortcuts.Try to keep the process of the craft as true to what it was but work around the design sensibilities – the colours, the placement, the cut – to go with what a modern woman would wear.

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