Couturier Ritu Kumar began her journey as a student of art history from Lady Irwin College in New Delhi. While studying Museology in Kolkata, she happened to visit Serampore, a small village in West Bengal where she discovered a small colony of hand block printers that were out of work.
She had an idea and began a small enterprise of giving designs that the printers could work on and the result of this effort was beautiful hand block printed saris that catapulted her into instant fame as one of India’s leading couturiers. She went beyond saris and created a label that toyed with silhouettes rooted in India’s ethnic heritage. Twenty years since, the label releases Ritu Kumar’s AW ’22 edit, Banjara. We catch up with Amrish Kumar, creative director, to find out more.
“The idea of Banjara was born out of the years we have all been trapped in our homes, there is a want to explore again. With that in mind, we alluded to the Banjara tribes, their aesthetic, and their idea of existence. We built that with other influences as well,” begins Amrish.
The label Ritu Kumar, popular with several celebrities, is conscious about moving with the cultural fabric of India. The pieces in this collection bear the heritage Ritu Kumar signature patchwork with brocades, embroidery, signature jamawar, and paisley on silks, velvets, and jacquards.
“Our palette of sandy browns, brick reds, moss greens, and savannah yellows connect with the earth and forest while florals for the season eschew the lightness of summer for the warmth and earthiness of the winter forests. The collection has fabrics ranging from tanchoi silk and Murshidabad silk to silk velvet and yarn dye fabrics in silhouettes that are comfortably multipurpose—favouring functionality with a classic mix of handloom checks and stripes, that can be utilised as an outfit for a casual evening, separates for the day at work, or lounging at home—think kurtas, dresses, shrugs, anarkalis, shirts, kaftans and suit sets,” explains Amrish. He adds,
“If you look at the collection, it still looks like Ritu Kumar where the connotation was classic, heritage Ritu Kumar—you can recognise it within the collection but also the styling and the moving forward and the new fabrics will show how much more global it’s become. Not only that, I think it is a real representation of us in a very international context, in a much more avant garde and modern view.”
In stores now; Rs 5,000 onwards.