Chess champ Viswanathan Anand’s son, Sai Akhil, floats clothing collection

Sai Akhil Anand, son of chess legend Viswanathan Anand, collaborates with Hastha for hand-block printed clothing collection.

Sai Akhil Anand sees patterns everywhere. On the road. And, on animals.

“I once looked keenly at the stripes of the zebra and tiger and observed patterns on them,” recalls Akhil, in a telephonic chat, “This made me very interested in art and patterns.”

The 13-year-old, son of Indian chess legend Viswanathan Anand, has recently ventured into a collaboration with ethnic brand Hastha to bring traditional Indian art forms to life in a new collection of hand-block printed clothing. This limited-edition collection is Akhil’s interpretation of traditional Indian motifs, featuring prints of horses, fish, cows, peacocks and lord Ganesha. “Divya Vigneshwaran, who runs Hastha Foundation, saw me talking at a festival once and suggested that I explore hand-block printing on clothes,” he says.

The result of that conversation was Hastha x Akhil, which features, among other things, theAkhil Tee, a cotton T-shirt printed with traditional hand-block techniques.

For the collection’s photo shoot, Akhil enlisted close family and friends as models. His father (chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand),mother (Aruna Anand), grandfather and art teacher Diana Satish feature in the photographs. “The shoot was a happy experience and I loved featuring in the photos with my family members,” says Akhil, who already has an online platform (Akhilisms on Instagram) that makes his artwork accessible as giftable items.

The proceeds of Hastha x Akhil will go towards Hastha Foundation, a non-profit organisation that empowers adults with neurological challenges through the art of hand block printing.

“I hope to work on mugs and books next year,” he says.