Queen of Sarees, Kankatala known for innovative campaigns celebrates the Heroes in Sarees this Women’s Day. The campaign puts a spotlight on 8 women achievers who also wear sarees including Sadhna Singh, Animal Activist, Dr. Anjali Adinath, Breast Cancer Surgeon, Suchithra Balasubramanian, Award Winning Vocalist and Harikatha Exponent, Olly Esse, Italian Disc Jockey, Amrita Rajpal, Edupreneur, Ashwini Narayan, Handloom Stylist, Siddhi Manerikar, Pro Rock Climber, Nirupa Bhatt, Gems & Jewellery Industry Expert.
Sarees have been synonymous with Indian women globally. As a brand, Kankatala has dedicated 3 generations to normalizing the saree and celebrating the Indian women who represent this 6-yard fluid fabric with various campaigns and initiatives.
With the ‘Heroes in Sarees’ initiative, the brand puts the spotlight on real-life women achievers who have managed to break the glass ceiling in various fields draped in a saree. This initiative aims to highlight the fact that there is nothing a woman in a saree cannot do.
‘Heroes in Sarees’ was first launched as an online and offline contest run across 13 outlets PAN India and Social Media community of 230k followers was requested to nominate the Heroes in Sarees from their own lives. The contest received an overwhelming response with more than 1000 nominees. 8 out of 1000 women achievers were shortlisted and invited to become the face of the Women’s Day campaign.
Each women achiever represented a different profession including an Award Winning Vocalist & Harikatha Exponent Suchitra Balasubramanian who represented Indian music, An Italian DJ Olly Esse who discovered Indian Handlooms and loves wearing sarees, Sadhna Singh, an Animal Activist, Dr. Anjali Adinath, Breast Cancer Surgeon, Aswini Narayan, a handloom stylist who has created unique drapes that make sarees easy and hip, Siddhi Manerikar who is a Pro Rock Climber and is often seen draped in Sarees and Nirupa Bhat, Ex Managing Director of GIA and has spent her life draped in Indian handlooms as she climbed up the corporate ladder and broke the glass ceiling.
The campaign was conceptualized under the leadership of Anirudh Kankatala, Director, Kankatala Sarees, Directed by Filmmaker Ashutosh Warang and produced by Pandemonium Pictures. Anirudh Kankatala, as the third-generation leader of the brand has transformed Kankatala from a regional brand to a national brand with a strong e-commerce footprint and has worked on several path-breaking campaigns to connect with modern Indian women including #normalisethesaree, Queens of Andhra, Indian Metallics to name a few.
‘As a brand, we believe that there is nothing a woman in saree cannot achieve and this initiative simply puts that fact to life. When we launched the contest and received more than 1000 entries, we were truly amazed to discover so many interesting stories of women achievers from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and fields who have shattered the glass ceiling while draped in a saree. We were given a challenge to select only 8 women from the long list of entries that we received, and this decision was not easy at all. What made us even more proud is the fact that most of these women are also our patrons. said Anirudh Kankatala, Director, Kankatala.
It’s truly a delight collaborating with Indian luxury brands that embrace unconventional campaigns. Steering clear from the typical promotional campaign for Women’s Day, we wanted to celebrate the real women Heroes in Sarees. It was great working with Anirudh Kankatala on this as his insights helped shape the campaign’s journey,” shares Fashion FilmMaker, Ashutosh Warang.
