“Forty years. The journey doesn’t seem as long as it actually was. My work with the crafts people is really my sustenance. It is not only my work, it is my life. All these years, when I was working I was not alone. I had a huge gamut of highly-skilled craftsmen working with me. Whether it was the finest khadi from Nabadweep or fine dhagas from Ranihati, it is most satisfying to see the skill level passing down to the next generation. Whether it is our designs or our copies, all the work that has gone in can be compared to a stone that is thrown into a silent pond. The ripples keep going. Hence the legacy lives on.

It is a very happy coincidence that Calcutta is where we begin our 40 years celebrations. I started out here and my association dates back longer than I can remember. It is doubly special to be involved with a wedding show because a wedding is a very important rite of passage in life. It is a fulfilling part of life as you step out of single status to make a family of your own. It takes a woman a step closer to motherhood. All the colours of a wedding have their own significance. They denote festivity, creativity and fertility, and all the underlying values.

My first show was in Calcutta in the early 1970s at Trincas. It was called Fashion Mood of 1970. All my friends turned models. And I still remember between changes were coffee breaks!”

MILESTONES

Ritu Kumar (centre) at the end of her first ever fashion show in trincas. her friends turned models for the evening titled fashion mood of 1970

Ritu Kumar with Maharani Gayatri Devi at the launch of her book, Costumes and Textiles of Royal India

Sharmila Tagore in her bridal lehnga designed by Ritu Kumar

Ritu Kumar with the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini award. Mother Teresa and Birju Maharaj were previous recipients of this prestigious award

Early khadi designs by Ritu Kumar. The design house plans to work with a cluster in Rajasthan to produce Khadi and promote it as a high-fashion fabric

In the early 1960s, Ritu Kumar started out in Calcutta with a couple of printing tables and hand blocks.

In 1966 Ritu Kumar gave Delhi its first boutique. She opened shop in Defence Colony Link Road.

Calcutta was next. 1968 saw her open Ritu’s Boutique on Wellesley Street.

In 1973 she revived the ancient craft of zardosi. The signature Ritu Kumar look was born.

In 1975 Ritu and her husband (Shashi Kumar) set up Kalamkari Designs Pvt Ltd to produce for international markets like London, New York, Germany, Amsterdam and Australia.

In 1985 Ritu’s Boutique was renamed Ritu.

In 1990, she established a shop-in-shop at the Les Galeries Lafayette, Paris, as an ongoing promotion of India.

Between 1989 and 1991, The Tree of Life, an audio-visual fashion tableau, was mounted by invitation at the Crafts Museum in New Delhi. The Tree of Life went on to be widely viewed and presented in and out of the country. It was also shown in Wembley Conference Centre, London, in 1997 to celebrate 50 years of India’s Independence. In 1998, it represented India at World Fashion Forum organised by National Institute of Fashion Technology. It also travelled to Singapore, Hong Kong and was shown at World Economic Forum in Davos in 2000.

In 1994, she presented Karabagh, a collection of leather accessories and silk furnishings.

In 1998, Ritu Kumar won the outstanding women entrepreneur award from the PHD-Chamber of Commerce.

In the same year, she won the lifetime achievement award from NIFT.

In 1999 her book Costumes and Textiles of Royal India was launched in London.

In 2002, The House of Ritu Kumar set up Label, a sub-brand. She was joined by her son Amrish Kumar.

In 2003 she showed at Dubai Haute Couture Week.

In 2004 she was selected president of Fashion Design Council of India. In the same year, she designed costumes for Little Terrorist, the Oscar-nominated short film directed by her son Ashvin Kumar.

In 2007 Ritu received the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award.

In 2008 she received the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) in France.

The House of Ritu Kumar is launching its first perfume on September 23, The Tree of Life.

A second book by Ritu Kumar is expected next year.