Ritu Beri

Luxury fashion brand Ritu Beri is synonymous with the globalisation of the Indian fashion industry. The couturier is the proud recipient of several prestigious International awards. In 2010 Ritu Beri was recipient of the prestigious French award: Chevaliere des Arts et des lettres. This was followed a civilian award by the Spanish government: Order of Civil Merit. In 2019 she was appointed the Culture and Tourism Ambassador of Uzbekistan in India by the Ministry of Tourism of Uzbekistan. Today Ritu Beri still remains an icon of modern Indian fashion in the international market and champions the careers of a number of rising Indian fashion designers. 

Indian couturier Ritu beri learnt the Art of Fashion at The National Institute of Fashion Technology New Delhi- affiliated to F.I.T. New York- and was a pioneer in the Indian fashion industry. Subsequently she was a protege of iconic French embroiderer Francois Lesage.

Armed with knowledge and experience- Ritu Beri launched her fashion brand in India in 1990. Within two years she ventured into the International market after a successful collaboration with Liberty at Regent Street- London. 1997 witnessed the launch of ‘Ritu Beri Fashion Fraternity’ - a platform for young Indian designers. She was also the first Indian fashion designer to be featured in PROMOSTYL's Acuastyl- a prestigious forecast magazine for global fashion trends. 

In 1998, Ritu Beri became the first Indian designer to associate and collaborate with D. Swarovski. It was an era of many firsts. The following year Ritu Beri was the first Indian designer to showcase her collection at Paris Fashion Week. 2000 was a milestone year: she launched a ready-to-wear collection and her brand in Paris and was also the first Indian designer to associate and collaborate with Fashion TV and then launch it in India. What's more she was the first to associate and collaborate with L’oreal Paris and also the first to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival in 2001.

“Mine is the story of a young Indian fashion designer who dreamt and aspired to conquer the global fashion world. My obsession with Paris and the desire to go beyond the usual is what drove me on this crazy journey. Paris truly represents the French capital’s illustrious past—it also stands for the grandest that there is in the world of luxury" she pens a note on her official website. “It was not that we lacked the creativity. We Indians have abundance of that—it flows in our veins, but we simply did not have the infrastructure, the machines, the training and the marketing backup to help build designers into global brands.”

"I don't remember how but I also landed myself an invitation to do a presentation during the Couture Week in Paris in July 1999… I decided to give France everything that India had to offer. To present to Paris an India they had never seen. An India in all its glory—exuberant, colourful, sensitive, but above all dramatic… I showed 30 outfits that were gorgeously embellished in exotic silks and brocades with gold and silver texturing adorned with Swarovski crystals creating huge drama. There were drapes and more drapes."

Suzy Menkes loved her first show in Paris during Le Semaine de la Haute Couture and said: “Surprising as it might seem, Ritu Beri from Delhi gave a lesson in high fashion aesthetics and client-pleasing clothes-the essence of couture. This protege of the embroiderer Francois Lesage took a palette of quiet colors and sent out poetic mixes of baked mud, earth brown and black tinged with gold embroidery, or brighter kingfishers lined with zingy yellow.”

In 2001 Ritu Beri was the first Asian to head a French fashion brand: Scherrer. So it's no wonder that the following year she was featured in TIME magazine as “one of the people to watch out for in international business.” In 2010 Ritu Beri was the proud recipient of the prestigious French award: Chevaliere des Arts et des lettres. “Paris is very, very special and full of India. Although the Indian fashion industry is very young in the West we are only twenty years old and have a long way to go," she tells Deccan Herald. "I’m here today because I’m an Indian and because I belive in India. Everything I did across the border only reflected my love for India. And this is the only reason behind what I am today."

Awards and accolades became a way of life. 2013 witnessed Ritu Beri as the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in fashion by The Rai University. And the following year she was honoured with a civilian award by the Spanish government: Order of Civil Merit. Eager to give back to fashion.. Ritu Beri launched The Luxury League- a Not-for-Profit Foundation to promote the treasures of India worldwide- in 2015. The following year she was appointed Advisor to Khadi and Village Industries Commission- Govt. of India.

Her star was rising. She was been climbing up the ladder of success but her fashion career was not confined to fashion shows. In 2019 Ritu Beri was appointed the Culture and Tourism Ambassador of Uzbekistan in India by the Ministry of Tourism of Uzbekistan. She was also announced the Advisor to Surajkund Mela: referred to as the world's largest craft fair with over a million visitors each year. And appointed Chief Design Consultant for Trifed- Tribes India- Ministry of Tribal Affairs- Govt. of India. In 2020, a Postal Stamp has been issued to honor "Ritu Beri's work under the series of Indian Fashion" by the Government of India. A stellar achievement!

Today Ritu Beri still remains an icon of modern Indian fashion in the international market and champions the careers of a number of rising Indian fashion designers. The luxury fashion brand has now diversified into interiors. “Designing interiors started as a hobby, an attempt to channelise my aesthetic urges to create beauty and give it an actual form,” explains a note on her official website. “I like eclectic spaces and enjoy the melange of unique things from different origins and impacts, from all over the world, that look good together. Designing furniture with unusual upholstery is a personal favourite."

Good design is always hanging on a tightrope of bad taste. She is saddened when she sees gorgeous girls who are slaves to fashion i.e. fashion victims. Ritu Beri believes that dressing up should be fun and does not believe in seasonal trends. Her luxury brand focuses more about the wearer and what works for her. On a note on her official website she states: "Style is what makes fashion eternal and nothing like a natural beauty."

Ritu Beri self-motivates herself by looking at how far she has come in the fashion and textile industry and more often by how far she envisions going. She is determined that tomorrow will never hand her the same cards twice; this makes life adventurous with a mix of unsolved problems, ambiguous victories and vague defeats. It’s very tiring to constantly make new creative experiences come alive. But the energy she invests to put it together is what  triggers the excitement. 

Ritu Beri retails occasion wear and bridal wear. The luxury brand has now diversified into Interiors.

Ritu Beri's show at Delhi Times Fashion Week showcased ancient pre- Independence hand-spun fabric khadi with a modern makeover, by crafting contemporary silhouettes. Thematically, it was a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, though the use of khadi in handcrafting a demi-couture line of intricately embellished saris, lehengas, tunics and kurta pyjamas was genius. The looks- accessorised with turbans and enhanced with bridal jewellery- ensured the young would appreciate the versatility of khadi to craft globally relevan, ensembles for occasion and bridal wear.

Her showing that paid homage to her homeland Punjab at PCJ Bridal Couture Week- was another milestone. Per Explosive Fashion: "Though there was a sense of whimsy in the sculpted looks, the exaggerated volume in others were the product of serious thought. Her idea was to reinterpret traditional Punjabi ensembles in a theatrical global frame and that strategy made for some standout runway looks like the sari-inspired gown and the Patiala salwars.. the lehengas and the shararas. Overall with such a flamboyant theme it was only fitting that the show closed with live Punjabi songs when the designer came out to take a bow!"