Ritu Kumar No. 1

The former art history student started in 1966 with her establishment, Ritu’s Boutique, in New Delhi’s Defence Colony. Kumar was one of the first Indian fashion designers to blend traditional weaving techniques, fabric and embroidery with a modern perspective. In the early ’70s, she discovered artisan settlement Ranihati just outside Calcutta, where the artisans were well-versed in zardosi, a craft that had once flourished under the Mughals. On this chance discovery, Kumar started working towards reviving the art. Kumar’s grateful she had the fortune of being part of the ’70s revivalist movement, instrumental in rediscovering ancient crafts of India that had declined during British rule. "I am indebted to other revivalists of the time like Pupul Jayakar and Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay who instilled in me a love and respect for Indian arts and crafts," says Kumar.

It wasn’t easy, though. People took time getting used to the new look she was creating. Kumar recalls the time she had organised a show of handblock-printed saris in Calcutta in the early ’70s. At a time when the elite dressed in floral chiffons and pearls, the show didn’t do well. "I was very disappointed," says Kumar. "I had put in a lot of hard work and research."

That research paid off in her 1999 book, Costumes and Textiles of Royal India, brought out in collaboration with Christie’s, London, which traced the evolution of royal costumes and textiles in the Indian subcontinent from ancient and medieval India, the Mughal period and 90 years of British rule.

Come the ’90s, she became known as the designer who dressed up Miss Indias. Ex-Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, ex-Miss World Aishwarya Rai and ex-Miss Universe Lara Dutta and 27 other women have had the fortune of wearing her designs; she has also designed clothes for international celebs like the late Princess Diana and the erstwhile Mrs Imran Khan.In 2002, she launched her pret (ready-to-wear) line—The Ritu Kumar Label—which aims at selling the designer tag to the younger, more corporate woman. Kumar believes a designer is only as good as her last show. Perhaps that’s what’s helped her stay atop the fashion ladder for nearly four decades.