Anita Dongre for Paperless Post: Modern romance meets heritage craftsmanship
Famous for her breathtaking wedding couture, designer Anita Dongre is one of India’s crown jewels. Her company has staked its claim as one of the country’s top fashion houses since its founding in 1995. Known for vibrant bridal lehengas and handwoven Benarasi sarees, the Anita Dongre brand is committed to preserving India’s rich craft heritage, sourcing textiles from rural artisans gifted in the Rajasthan craft tradition of gota patti embroidery.
Now, more than 30 years since the company’s founding, Dongre’s empire has expanded to include multiple ready-to-wear lines, an accessories line, and flagship stores in New York City and Los Angeles. And as her influence grows, so does her loyal following of couples seeking her coveted aesthetic: a contemporary take on tradition. In the same vibrant spirit as her bridal couture, Dongre’s collection of Indian wedding invitations pairs patterns and motifs from her runway collections with stunning invitation designs. To celebrate the launch of her new invitation collection, we spoke with Anita Dongre on the inspiration behind her latest designs, as well as all things wedding, fashion, and some thoughtful advice for newlyweds.
On the new Anita Dongre for Paperless Post collection
In three words, these designs can be summed up as: lush, gentle, and revivalist. The new collection was conceptualized as a response to our Spring Summer collection, Vaana, which means ‘forest’ in Sanskrit.
The collection focuses on florals nestled in lush greenery, celebrating the eternal beauty of nature. Indian art has carried botanical references from Mughal and Rajput frescoes to garments adorning royalty. At Anita Dongre, we draw from heritage motifs to create a contemporary vignette of a world lost to time, and we hope that these designs mark beginnings laden with warmth, softness, and togetherness.
To us, India is color, but it is also a tasteful eye that exercises restraint as an art form. This Paperless Post collection reflects that aspect of our brand beautifully.
On the fashion influences behind the designs
We treat fashion as a mixed media expression of art. Most of our pieces blend traditional painting techniques, block printing, digital printing, and a combination of heritage crafts rooted in embroidery, creating a sculptural, wearable tapestry. We work with embroidery and craft clusters from across the country that employ women as keepers of heritage art forms and communities. The digital invitations are a two-dimensional reinterpretation of this layering of urban and local, Indian and global, color and restraint.
Weddings are all about intimacy, togetherness, and the coming together of two different families with their distinctive styles to find harmony. The quest for this harmony is what gives us pleasure in designing ensembles for the entire family to capture that perfect moment in time. Crafting wedding invitations with the theme, mood, and feel of the events is a natural extension of that, lending synergy to the wedding proceedings.
On traditional Indian embroideries
Over the years, we have explored different weaves, textures, embroideries, and prints to have something for everyone. Rajasthan being my core inspiration, my signature design element, gota patti, is on most of my pieces. Our garments also showcase dori, pearl, zardosi, sequins, cut dana, and thread work that adds a touch of opulence to our collections. Our design sensibility also encompasses a blend of contemporary and traditional motifs like florals, vines, and botanicals inspired by lush Indian forests, as well as timeless Mughal motifs inspired by the majestic architecture of our ancient palaces.
On how the Anita Dongre style has evolved over the years
We try to keep it fresh at Anita Dongre. Each season brings new stories and innovation with our techniques. Yet, there is a thread that ties everything together: nature and architecture, expressed through heritage Indian crafts. I have always designed garments keeping in mind the three significant aspects that the modern Indian woman seeks in her ensembles—effortless grace, style, and comfort.
On how she stays inspired
Inspiration can be found in unsuspecting places. Sometimes I see it in the daily play between my dogs and the birds that visit them. At other times, in the love lives and stories I’m told by friends and the girls who work with me. But most of all, I see inspiration in nature and animal life. I have amazing collaborators in master painters and craftspeople, and their truths inspire the work in equal measure.
On wedding and bridal trend predictions for 2026
More than a prediction, it’s hope. I hope weddings in 2026 become more conscious and intentional. At their heart, weddings are moments of thoughtful togetherness, time spent with family, grounded in love, presence, and shared meaning. Indian weddings have always been larger than life, and that scale offers a beautiful opportunity to ask how that thoughtfulness can extend beyond ourselves, to meaningfully engage craft communities, choose nature-led and considered gifting, celebrate local flavors through food, and consciously curate every detail. I hope that grooms think about avoiding the use of sentient animals to enter their wedding festivities, and choose creative and humane alternatives instead.
Younger brides and grooms already care deeply about these choices, which makes me optimistic about the direction weddings are heading, where the special meets the responsible.
On her advice for brides and newlyweds
Here is some perspective for brides and grooms, rather than advice. From my understanding of them, marriages, like fashion and nature, have seasons. Some seasons are spring and joy, and some are wintery and enduring. If you and your partner choose to brave them together with a good spirit, finding beauty in all the seasons, you will find affection deeper than you could anticipate.
Thank you, Anita! From the Haldi to the final ceremony, browse the full Anita Dongre for Paperless Post collection to discover beautiful invitations for every wedding event.