In the early 2000s, Animol Bonny was getting rave reviews for her clothes in Dubai, where she had moved in with her husband. Friends sought her fashion advice, and she was happy to oblige. They assumed she had a brilliant dressmaker back home in Kottayam, India, but all her clothes were her own creative handiwork.
Animol – Anu to her friends – was a journalist by training and new to fashion. But she had an unerring eye for color and impeccable taste. Dress after dress, sari after sari, this gift of hers was on rich display. Before long, she was curating entire wardrobes for friends and filling them with clothes that made people sit up and appreciate. It had a multiplier effect, and by 2012, Animol Bonny was handling so many requests she decided to go official.