When you hear “London Fashion Week,” you probably don’t think Hamleys, the legendary toy store where kids lose their minds over Barbies and remote-control cars. But that’s exactly where Anamika Khanna staged the first-ever international show for her label AK|OK, and somehow, it worked. The Anamika Khanna AK|OK London Fashion Week 2025 debut was a memory play set inside a childhood fantasy.
The vibe was nostalgia, but not in the sepia-toned Instagram filter way. Khanna imagined a girl returning to her grandmother’s home in Rajasthan, rummaging through old trunks stuffed with hand-embroidered skirts and woven shawls. Hamleys, with its candy-colored chaos, echoed the same feeling: stepping back into childhood without asking permission.
With the Anamika Khanna AK|OK London Fashion Week 2025 collection, Indian craftsmanship got a remix. On the runway, the collection pushed Indian craft out of the “too formal, too ethnic” box and into everyday wardrobes. Chikankari embroidery, usually reserved for saris or weddings, turned up on a slouchy coat with trousers. Silver jewelry elements stripped of their ceremonial weight, showed up with jeans and boots. Graphic prints pulled from mythology and astrology felt playful, almost childlike, but never costume-y.
Khanna’s clothes made heritage feel light and lived-in, the kind of pieces you could actually wear without an occasion. “Eastern culture has been perceived as costume,” she’s said. “But people want to wear these elements every day. Why shouldn’t they?”
The front row included Sonam Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez, but the real draw was the argument AK|OK made: Indian fashion doesn’t need to be bound to tradition or spectacle. It can be modern, casual, even toy-store chic.