How Ananya Panday is building a luxury identity beyond Bollywood

For Ananya Panday, fashion is becoming more than just a red-carpet accessory. Over the past few years, the actor has steadily moved into the world of global luxury, building a presence that extends beyond her filmography and placing her alongside some of the biggest names in international fashion.

One of the biggest milestones in that journey came in April 2025, when Chanel named Panday its first Indian ambassador. The appointment marked a significant moment for the actor, whose relationship with the French maison had already been visible through her fashion choices. From Chanel tweed sets and handbags to jewellery and ready-to-wear looks, the brand had increasingly become part of her wardrobe.

Soon after her appointment, Panday travelled to Lake Como for Chanel's Resort 2025/26 show. Her Italian itinerary — complete with Chanel looks, boat rides and time with her sister Rysa Panday — offered a glimpse into the world of luxury that she was now representing. At the show, she wore a black dress from Chanel's Métiers d’Art collection, further cementing her place within the maison's international fashion circuit.

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But Chanel is not where the luxury chapter began.

In 2023, Panday became a Jimmy Choo brand ambassador, appearing in the luxury footwear label's Diwali capsule campaign. The campaign saw her styled in a series of high-glamour looks featuring Jimmy Choo footwear and accessories, putting her firmly within the luxury fashion conversation. Since then, the brand has been a recurring part of her fashion repertoire, with Panday wearing its shoes and accessories for festive appearances, events and red carpets. Her association with Jimmy Choo also placed her alongside a growing group of Indian celebrities representing global luxury labels, giving her fashion profile a presence that extended beyond her work in films.

That same year, Panday was also associated with Swarovski. She attended the opening of the jewellery brand's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York in 2023, wearing a Mugler gown paired with pieces from the SKIMS x Swarovski collection and Jimmy Choo footwear.

What makes Panday's fashion evolution particularly interesting is the way she moves between international luxury houses and Indian couture. In one of her interviews in 2025 she spoke about discovering her personal relationship with fashion as she began working, describing herself as someone who gravitates towards classic silhouettes and colours. She also named Indian designers Arpita Mehta, Manish Malhotra and Rahul Mishra among her favourites.

Her association with Indian couture has increasingly intersected with her international fashion presence. Panday made her international runway debut at Rahul Mishra's Paris Couture Week show, an experience she described as nerve-racking but exciting. In 2026, she continued to wear Mishra's couture, including a highly intricate hand-embroidered column dress from his Fall 2026 haute couture collection.

And now, her luxury portfolio is expanding further.

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In June 2026, Panday was appointed a Friend of the Maison by Piaget, adding fine jewellery and luxury watchmaking to her growing list of international fashion associations. Later that month, she attended Piaget's high-jewellery showcase in Monaco wearing a custom Gaurav Gupta sari-gown paired with a Piaget haute joaillerie watch.

The progression is telling. From Bollywood premieres to Paris couture, from Jimmy Choo campaigns to Chanel's Lake Como show and Piaget's high-jewellery universe, Panday's public image is increasingly connected to the broader luxury ecosystem.

Yet she has not completely separated this image from the youthful identity that first made her popular. Instead, her fashion journey has allowed her to occupy the space between Bollywood celebrity and global fashion personality — wearing Indian couture alongside international luxury and bringing both into the social-media-driven world of a younger audience.

For Ananya Panday, then, luxury is becoming less about a single designer or campaign and more about the world she is building around herself. Bollywood may have been where her career began, but fashion is increasingly becoming another defining part of her identity.

Text by Parishree Vashishtha

Edited by Sabrina Mathews