For RITU KUMAR and son AMRISH, fashioning a new India is what keeps their 48-year-old label going strong. The duo shares with Vogue how the Urban Gypsy collection, showcased here on muse and actor Yami Gautam, neatly ties together the distinct fabrics of their generations.
At 72, Ritu Kumar still spends busy days at her design studio in Delhi, meticulously investigating design histories and envisioning ways of creating a wardrobe laden with India’s ancient handicraft culture. Her label, which started as ‘Ritu’s Boutique’ in 1969, occupying half a grocery store Kumar shared with her friend, ubiquitously (and accidentally) grew into a name synonymous with the country’s design narrative. In many ways, the idiosyncratic artist-turned-designer’s career has become a barometer of change, heralding a modern outlook while still grasping at tradition.
For her passion turned mammoth business, Kumar took on a reverse approach in reviving Indian handicrafts. Starting at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, she dug up their archives to backtrack to the source. “India had a repertoire of designs sitting unseen and unknown, and this made me very sad. The V&A has the best Indian prints in their archives. It was a kind of reverse movement where I bought those designs from them, brought them back to India and recreated them here in the areas in which they originated. Very exciting,” reminisces Kumar.
The designer has lived many firsts— first to set up a standalone brick-and mortar store when boutique retailing was a far-flung notion; first to tap into the reserves of indigenous textiles and weaves; and first to make it to the windows of Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Breathe In, Breathe Out
A powerful tool to help you master your nervous system or another biohacking buzzword? SIMONE DHONDY explores the inhalations and exhalations of breathwork
Red Pill, Blue Pill
India's nutraceutical industry is booming thanks to advanced technology, distrust of the medical system and rising vanity. With multivitamins becoming purer and more effective, NIDHI GUPTA finds out if supplements have become the new serum
Sign of the times
No longer do you need to have an answer to, \"What is the significance of this?\" when people point to your new tattoo. ARMAN KHAN discovers that everything is on the table when you get inked temporarily
Return to form
Watching the world's most elite athletes deliver the best performances of their careers rekindled SONAKSHI SHARMA's own love for sports
Dimple, All Day
YOU MAY HAVE WATCHED HER ON THE BIG SCREEN FOR OVER FIVE DECADES, BUT DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOU KNOW DIMPLE KAPADIA.
MUSIC, TAKE CONTROL
As someone who had always sought safety in numbers, ALIZA FATMA often wondered what her own company would feel like. The answer arrived unexpectedly when she attended her first-ever music festival, one of the largest in the world, all alone
Let it grow
When we think of hardworking farmers toiling in India's scorching heat, we often think of men, the sweat on their brow, the sinews in their arms. JYOTI KUMARI speaks to four women who are championing the invisible female labour that keeps these fields running
YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE
When armless archer Sheetal Devi set her sights on the Paralympic Games this year, she knew she had a tough journey ahead of her. Luckily, her mother was with her every step of the way.
Beauty and the feast
The appeal of Indian weddings has always been in a sprawling spread. For additional bragging rights, Aditi Dugar recommends going beyond designer tablecloths and monogrammed napkins.
Sweet serendipity
From a scavenger hunt-inspired proposal to a Moroccan-themed baraat, Malvika Raj and Armaan Rai's love story prioritised playfulness throughout their blended celebrations.