Ritu Kumar Biography

The First Female Fashion Designer Known for her Perfect Blend of Cultures”

Declared to be the first designer to launch a boutique culture in India, Ritu Kumar is one of India’s most elegant fashion designers. The artist deals in bridal couture and is recognized for her style that subtly shows the Indian culture and traditions through her up-to-date outfits.

Ritu has a very gentle understanding of antique designs that she painstakingly turns into the modern bridal couture of today; all gratitude to her training in museology and art history.

  • Additionally, for over two decades, Ritu Kumar’s title has also got added to the Femina Miss India for creating clothes for their candidates who participate in global beauty pageants such as Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss Asia Pacific World. But more than that, her ideas have also been bought by fashion symbols such as Late Princess Diana and Jemima Khan.
  • Ritu Kumar is the mom of Ashvin Kumar, the youngest Indian writer/director to be called for an Academy Award and Amrish Kumar, who is the originator of their Label. Finally, when she is not working, she favors to go on a family vacation or just have extensive conversations with her sons over music and books.

“She championed the cause of Indian textiles, and her clothes for me were a representation of wearable art,” contemporary Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, told CNBC.

Origin and History

Early life and education of Couture Rani ( Queen of Couture)

Named the ‘Couture Rani’ fondly by her admirers, Ritu was born on November 11, 1944, in Amritsar.

  • She was in Delhi later where she graduated in 1964 from Lady Irwin College.
  • She traveled to the US in 1966 to get a higher study from New York’s Briarcliff College.
  • Born in Amritsar, Punjab, Ritu Kumar is a resident of Delhi.
  • She graduated in 1964 from Lady Irwin College in Delhi and continued her higher studies from Briarcliff College in New York. She has a history of art history and museology. 
  • Her work as an Indian designer started nearly 40 years ago in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in West Bengal. Four hand-block print craftsmen in a small village nearby helped the agents of her design.

  • From these small beginnings, she has transformed to having 35 high-end stores across 14 cities in the country.

  • She is one of the pioneers of Indian amalgamation garments and has thus been acknowledged with many prestigious awards and accolades.

  • Besides the Padma Shri award, she has also won the Achievement Award in 2012 at L’oreal Paris Femina Women’s Awards and the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini prize for her role in the growth of the fashion industry. Throughout her profession, she has been presented with many other honors.

Biodata of Ritu Kumar

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Biographical DataDetails
Nationality India
Spouse Shashi Kumar
Father Shashi Kumar
Son Ashvin Kumar(Film Maker), Amrish Kumar ( CEO- Ritu Kumar)
Religion Hinduism
Label 'Ritu Kumar', 'Ri', 'Ritu Kumar Home' and 'LABEL Ritu Kumar
Age 75 Years (in 2019)
Height 163 cm / 1.63 m / 5’ 4”
Birth Place Amritsar, Punjab
Date of Birth 11 November 1944
Name Given by Fans Couture Rani

Ritu Kumar's Form of Design

Global Leadership & Celebrity Closet

Bollywood and international celebrities love her designing style

As stated earlier, Ritu Kumar was one of the prominent female Indian designers recognized with carrying boutiques to India along with moving the face of traditional Indian textile craft forms complemented by the common Indian color palette.

For several years, Ritu Kumar has produced and outfitted the Miss India pageant winners on global pageant programs such as Miss Universe, Miss India, and Miss Asia-Pacific.

Her clothes have been worn and adored by stars such as Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Deepika Padukone, Madhur Jaffrey, Kalki Koechlin, Dia Mirza, Soha Ali Khan and Jemima Goldsmith, Nargis Fakhri, Dia Mirza, Madhuri Dixit Nene, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Ritu Kumar’s foreign patrons incorporate the late Princess Diana, artist, and singer Anoushka Shankar as well as actor cum model Mischa Barton.

Today, with 60+ shops of her fashion brands & labels across the world, Ritu Kumar’s ideas have gone on to become the meaning of Fashion.

Ritu Kumar Label is also used by numerous of the Bollywood & International stars like Vidya Balan, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Lara Dutta, Dia Mirza along with Mischa Barton, Anoushka Shankar and Anna Ivanovic as well.

Ritu Kumar: Career

Perfect Example of Women empowerment 

Ritu’s house started from humble outsets and it is amazing to see where her handwork and energy have arrived here today.

Her business was placed up in a small village near Kolkata in 1960 with few bar printers and two desks. Over the years, Ritu’s company has grown exponentially and the product is sold in over 35 outlets everywhere in India today presenting a livelihood to hundreds of artisans.

Recognized as the first designer to combine the word modern to India’s bridal couture, Ritu’s work has evolved beyond textile art.

What makes Ritu a powerful force to be considered within the quite ambitious bridal couture market is her ability to produce refreshingly new silhouettes by combining traditional forms and decorations making her sets feel like a whiff of fresh air.

FAQ abour Ritu Kumar


When did Ritu Kumar got Padam Shri Award?

2013

What is the age of Ritu Kumar?

75 Years (in 2019)

What is Manish Malhotra' label name?

'Ritu Kumar', 'Ri', 'Ritu Kumar Home' and 'LABEL Ritu Kumar

Achievements & Awards

Ritu has got many prestigious honors throughout her career.

  • One of them is the Padma Shri Award she won in 2013 for her outstanding services to the Indian style industry.
  • In 2012, she obtained the Femina Women’s Award by L’Oreal Paris.
  • Ritu was also given the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini for her participation in the field of style.
  • In 2000, she was given the Kingfisher Group of Industries’ Lifetime Achievement Award.
  • The French Government also offered upon her ‘The Knight of the Management of Arts and Letters’.
  • In 1998, she won two awards; the Leading Women Entrepreneur Award by Ph.D. Chamber of Commerce and the National Institute of Fashion’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Ritu Kumar Fashion Designer's Awards

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AwardYear
Padma Shri Award 2013
Femina Women’s Award by L’Oreal Paris 2012
Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini 2015
Kingfisher Group of Industries’ Lifetime Achievement Award 2000
Leading Women Entrepreneur Award 1998
Lifetime Achievement Award by National Institute of Fashion Technology 1998

Net Worth & Income

“Ritu Kumar” company’s annual revenue is $5.6M  as per owler.

Ritu Kumar Contact Details

Ritu Kumar's Style and Variety

Promoting Indian Ethnic Fashion

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Her contemporary turn on traditional forms has been smartly consolidated into silhouettes that are new and reinvented with every season. The styling and forms of her clothes are creative and appealing to the style outcomes of consumers from across the earth. 

 

Her addition to making Indian ethnic fashion recognized and used by international clientele is unique.

Big Bridal Fashion Collection

Her bridal collection has held a show-stopper on the runway and highlights a lot of zari, zardozi and other kinds of embroidery that make usage of this valuable metal.

Under the ‘Ritu Kumar’ flag, she has created and sold Indian ethnic wear, including a variety of customizable garments as well as wedding outfits, such as suits, sarees, lehengas, Kurtis and accessories.

Indian Forms of Textile Art

The ‘Label Ritu Kumar’ Flag, however, is a collection of Western outlines highlighting traditional Indian embellishments. To work with the outfits are many modish accessories such as sling handbags which again prominently spread Indian forms of textile arts slashed onto the leather.

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