BENGALURU: When Anam Mirza decided to plunge into the world of fashion, sister and ace tennis player Sania Mirza admits she “backed the baby of the house” and went ahead with the proposition of being a business partner despite not understanding much about the world of fashion. “That’s how we roll. Fashion is something I love, though I don’t understand much.
I go by what Anam says and most of the times, we like similar things,” says Sania, who, along with her sister Anam, will be bringing the four-year-old line, Label Bazaar, to Bengaluru on February 29, the theme of which is ‘Loving Yourself.’ Their roles are divided, with Sania – who is back on the court after taking a maternity break since 2017 – doing most of the executional work, while Anam, who married legendary cricketer Mohd Azharuddin’s son, Asad, in December – takes care of the daily groundwork activities. “Sania is great at giving advice – be it in the professional or personal front. I am more of the risk-taker in the business,” Anam says.
Agrees Sania, who says, “I like the fact that she takes risks and is not scared to do so.” For Sania, comfort is key. Her favourite outfit is loose-fitted balloon jeans. “Fashion is something that makes you feel good about yourself and happy when you look in the mirror. It’s also a lot about comfort. But I know for a fact that it is not how Anam feels about it,” Sania says, pointing out that this is probably the only disagreement they have in business. “I believe fashion doesn’t need a timeline, and doesn’t depend on what’s in or out. But I’ve learnt that fashion can be comfortable,” says Sania, who looks up to actor Sonam Kapoor as her style icon, and her favourite fashion accessory is a ‘nice bag’.
The sisters are like best friends-turned-business partners, with Sania over the years being pleasantly surprised at her sister’s business acumen and keen eye for fashion. “I really trust Anam’s opinion. In fact, working together doesn’t come with challenges, but advantages. You’re working with someone who knows you, your body type and personality while picking up clothes. It’s a lot of fun,” says Sania, to which Anam adds that the two have hardly had any fights. “We can literally tell you the number of fights we have had in our lives. Our thinking process is alike and we do like similar things most of the times. This is just one of our partnerships; we have partnerships in everything we do in our lives,” the younger sister says.
While being a tennis player, parent and working woman is demanding, Sania, who doesn’t do anything she doesn’t enjoy, is grateful to her support system, which allows her to pursue her passions. “I have an amazing set of people, including team Izhaan, as I call them who manage the schedule. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she says. While Anam adds that juggling roles comes naturally to both sisters. “We keep switching between our personal and professional lives. Our family has been extremely supportive and understanding towards our work schedules and always been our backbone for this venture,” Anam says.
Fashion-savvy city
According to Anam Mirza, the one thing that is coming back in fashion is blue and green which had gone out of style. Also, the big ruffle sleeves are some of the latest trends picking up. Bengaluru people are very experimentative, their love for trying and looking for something new is one of the reasons why we love coming back to the city,” she says.