TALK Indian craftsmanship in a contemporary vocabulary, and the first designer name that comes to mind is Ritu Kumar. Fondly known as the Grand lady Indian fashion, Ritu has developed a unique style of her own, reflecting ancient traditions in her modern designs.
With her background in art history and museology, Ritu possesses a deep understanding of the ancient designs and the innovative use of traditional crafts with which she has created a new classicism.
Ritu's boutiques feature the very best of Indian design, with specially produced range of high fashion garments and accessories using silk, leather and cotton. Ritu's range of western and Indian apparel is all about traditions and individual talent, and women across the continent can easily identify with her vision of design.
She is also credited with being one of the first Indian designers to create a contemporary idiom in several ancient skills and has been a strong catalyst in marketing them to a dynamic modern India.
Over the years, Ritu's work as a fashion designer has shown a progression which has matured beyond textile crafts. She has the unique ability to turn each collection into unusual creative styling. Translating textures and embellishments into refreshingly new and unexpectedly contemporary silhouettes, making her work particularly relevant from India's fashion worldview. No wonder she has been designing the national garment for several Miss Indias in the Miss Universe and Miss World pageant. In fact, this year, her design on Miss India Simran Kaur Mundi won the national costume award at the Miss World pageant.
While Ritu's forte lies in traditional Indian clothes, she has evolved another style for the young buyer with a refreshing collection every season at the country's premium fashion weeks that, in her words, has "redefined traditional handwriting to meet the changing needs of the new generation".
The inspiration for these collections comes from both classical and folk Indian motifs, prints and embroideries. The use of a wide range of western silhouettes mingled with Indian styles gives it a contemporary international edge.
In 2002, Ritu Kumar and her son Amrish, launched a sub-brand - Ritu Kumar LABEL. LABEL uses the established forte of traditional Indian design and converts it into fashion-oriented international products. This is aimed at the young, global Indian woman sporting a contemporary lifestyle.
Her book Costumes and Textiles of Royal India, published by Christies in October 1999, chronicles the history of textiles and art design in India. A definitive research project with its element of Indian luxury fashion and craft history the book is today a reference for studies in the fashion field in most fashion and textiles institutions in the country today. It is distributed through the "antique dealers club" internationally.
Ritu was awarded the first life time achievement award from NIFT the premier fashion institution of India in at their convocation by the vice president of India in 1998.
She also has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for her achievements and contribution in the field of fashion in 2007. Mother Teresa, Birju Maharaj, Pt. Hari Prasad were previous recipients of this prestigious award.
The most recent award was conferred on her by the French government--- the prestigious award of "chevalier des arts et des lettres (knight of the order of arts and letters). The award is in recognition of her contribution to Indian textile crafts and traditional techniques. In the past, this award has been conferred upon Shahrukh Khan, M Balamurali Krishna, Merryl Streep, Daneille Steele, Leonardo di Caprio, and Anjolie Ela Menon among others.
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