For over forty years, Ritu Kumar has been working to put India’s print and textile traditions centrestage. For that she has worked with craftspeople in villages as well as the rich and famous, in India and out of it. The Amritsar-born Kumar did not set out as a designer.
She studied Art History at Briarcliff College in New York, after finishing her college in Delhi. It was while studying museology at the Asutosh Museum of Indian Art in Calcutta University that Kumar got interested in block-printing. She set up a unit with four hand-block printers and two tables in a small village near Kolkata; their work found its way into Ritu’s Boutique, the first such store of its kind in India.
From the beginning, Kumar’s creations were distinctive in their use of colour, the quality of the fabric, intricate print/embroidery and a gloriously rich Indian aesthetic that had a very contemporary feel. Working with craftspeople, Kumar made significant impact in creating employment in underdeveloped areas.
Within a decade, Brand Ritu Kumar was retailing in Europe: the products a mix of couture and prêt. In 2002, Kumar launched a sub-brand called Label, featuring Western silhouettes with traditional embellishments. The two brands are now sold in 27 stores across India. And yet Kumar keeps visiting small towns and villages looking for authentic textiles.
“In the last three decades, I have seen our textile heritage being reduced to a shadow of its glorious past. I can’t stand it. I will do every bit I can to revive our handlooms and reinstate the lost glory of our crafts,” she says. Her book Costumes and Textiles of Royal India, published by Christie’s, chronicles the history of textiles and art design in India. Kumar’s work as a textile revivalist has won her the Padma Shri in 2013 and the French Knighthood, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, in 2008.