An-Y1, a Collection Inspired by Vintage Formula One Style, Debuts

Samantha Conti
·2 min read
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MOTORING AHEAD: It’s been a busy year for the Hinduja family, which has been making its mark on London in myriad ways, first with the opening of Raffles London at the OWO, or Old War Office building, and with a new clothing brand called An-Y1.

The family may be the same, but the businesses are different. While Sanjay Hinduja helps to run his family’s eponymous multibillion-dollar conglomerate, his wife Anu Hinduja has returned to her first love, fashion, launching a brand called An-Y1, pronounced “anyone.”

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Before launching the new line, Anu Hinduja, a graduate of London’s Inchbald School of Design, had shops in Knightsbridge and Notting Hill that specialized in embroidered Indian designs.

She eventually shut them, but she never gave up on fashion. She has now teamed with her sister, Nandita Mahtani, Bollywood’s go-to designer for resortwear, on the new collection, which Hinduja describes as “contemporary sports luxe.”

The season-less collection debuted with clothing inspired by the colors of the Gulf Oil logo and the gear worn by the Formula One racers.

The collaboration was all in the family as Sanjay Hinduja is the long-standing chairman of Gulf Oil International, a division of Hinduja Group, which has a vast portfolio that ranges from media, entertainment and communications to specialty chemicals, energy, real estate and health care.

In an interview, Anu Hinduja said that in the coming months she plans to introduce knitwear and denim to the collection, which already features leather and silk.

A look from the debut An-Y1 collection, inspired by F1 racing.
A look from the debut An-Y1 collection, inspired by F1 racing.

The debut Monaco Collection includes leather minidresses, silk or canvas jumpsuits, and fabric bombers with logos in a palette inspired by Gulf Oil’s signature colors of duck egg blue, orange and ecru.

The patterns and emblems on the pieces have been drawn from vintage racing jackets, and have an oversized fit.

The collection, which is manufactured in the U.K. and India, will drop in curated edits throughout the year.

Prices range from 300 pounds for a silk top to 850 pounds for a leather jacket. The most expensive piece on offer is the racing leather bomber jacket, which costs 1,050 pounds.

“I love creating, and I had this idea in my head for a while,” said Hinduja. Her aim is to turn An-Y1 into a lifestyle brand with a full rtw collection. She wants to preserve the sporty vintage feel of the debut capsule, and leverage Mahtani’s Indian embroidery expertise.

The sisters will eventually add bags and luggage to the offer, but Hinduja said she does not want to “bombard the market. I want this to grow organically.”

The line is currently selling direct-to-consumer on the website, and Hinduja said the plan is to add wholesale distribution once she and her sister are able to build a bigger profile for An-Y1.

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