For her Rewild show, Anita Dongre was inspired by a 140-year-old Banyan tree

Can fashion inspire positive community action? According to designer Anita Dongre, who over the weekend returned with the second edition of Rewild, her fashion fundraiser to support animal welfare and ecosystem conservation, the answer is clear. “For me fashion is a platform, and Rewild is to remind India and the world that the planet is not just for us human beings alone. It’s to remind us that co-existence is the way forward, that true luxury is rooted in responsibility and compassion,” she told The Nod after a fashion show held at the grand Lukshmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara.

Dongre is seated alongside her co-host, the Maharani of Vadodara, Radhikaraje Gaekwad, who has worn Dongre’s clothes before and who has her own reasons for supporting the cause. “I was born in a family of a conservationist; my dad [Dr Ranjitsinh Jhala] is one of the living legends of wildlife conservation, the first Director of Wildlife Preservation in India. He was responsible for creating 11 national parks and eight sanctuaries, and much of my childhood was spent in the forest, so I naturally gravitate towards nature and ecology,” she says.

The fashion show was one aspect of the Rewild initiative, serving as a fundraising platform for the brand alongside enabling other patrons to support a group of carefully chosen, high-impact organisations. These include the Nature Conservation Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Trust, and Friendicoes SECA—all of whom champion causes close to Dongre’s heart.

Guests who arrived in Vadodara for the show were invited to tour the palace and its grounds, visit the Maharaja Fatesingh Museum, which houses the Gaekwad family’s extensive collection of art and artefacts, and stop by Gazra Café, an initiative to support the local LGBTQ+ community.

But the extensive grounds (all 30.5 million sq ft of it) and the palace provided more than just a grand location for the show. Dongre said the starting point for the line was a sprawling 140-year-old banyan tree that is the spiritual heart of the palace. “We used to run around here and climb the branches as children,” recalls Padmajaraje Gaekwad, the Maharani’s older daughter, while giving a group of fashion industry folk a tour of her home. “In fact, my mother still does sometimes!”

It was exactly this sense of joyful liberation that the clothes seemed to embody as well. Rather than Dongre’s opulent bridal couture, the collection was a mix of luxe prêt and eveningwear—these were clothes that would work at an Indian wedding but also just as easily fly off the racks at her new Beverly Hills store. Echoing the banyan tree’s knotted roots, there were a series of looks made of handwoven macramé—beach-ready halter-neck dresses, body-hugging maxis, and even a skirt with an attached sari-like pallu. Nature was a key motif in the embroideries, which came scattered across gauzy cropped jackets and full skirts, three-piece sets that included flowing palazzo pants, crop tops and long jackets, and bomber jackets for men. The dense flora and fauna continued on the woven Benarasi textiles in chartreuse and black or as a cutwork pattern on a pair of light Bermuda shorts layered under a bow-tied overlay.

We caught up with Anita Dongre and Radhikaraje Gaekwad backstage to ask them about their shared love for animals and what it takes to prep for a fashion show of this scale.

Is this the first time you’ve hosted a fashion show here?

Radhikaraje Gaekwad: It’s not the first time but we’ve never done one on this scale and to these standards. I have hosted my own show for the CDS Art Foundation but to have Anita Dongre here was extremely special and I was not going to let that opportunity pass by.

Have you worn her clothes before?

Gaekwad: Yes, I have. Her clothes and also her accessories and jewellery.

Anita Dongre: [to Gaekwad] Actually, this sari that you are wearing right now was embroidered by the women of SEWA [Self-Employed Women’s Association] from Gujarat. We have some of the artisans of the show also here; they would love to see you wearing this.

What was your morning like the day of the show?

Gaekwad: I have not slept very well, honestly, because I’ve been more stressed about having an event of this magnitude. We do host big events of our own, like the Lukshmi Vilas Palace Heritage Garba, which is held over nine days and accommodates almost 50,000 people, but this was at another level.

Dongre: I think the first thing I did when I woke up is my 20-minute meditation and then I was on the phone and answering two hundred WhatsApp messages.

What is the most royal thing about you?

Gaekwad: I’m a very low-maintenance person because a lot of it is inheritance, which I can enjoy. But I think the most queenly thing about me is that I live in one of the most beautiful residences in the world.

What is one false idea that people have about vegans or veganism?

Dongre: That it’s difficult. I think it’s the easiest thing to be a vegan in India. We just have so many choices. You don’t have to have ghee and butter, for example—there’s coconut oil, which is amazing.

How do you plan to relax, now that the show is done?

Gaekwad: I think I’m going to sleep for a very long time.

Dongre: I have a 6 am train back home [Mumbai] and then I’ll sleep on the weekend.

What was the train journey to Vadodara like?

Dongre: It was fabulous. We always take the train when we come this side. It was like an old-school trip—the whole team, the models from Mumbai. We had snacks…

What’s your favourite animal?

Dongre: I love all animals, but I especially love elephants.

Gaekwad: All animals are my kindred spirits, but I have a special affinity for the leopard. They’re such fierce mums and great hunters and survivors.