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Ritu Beri - Indian Designer
Ritu Beri graduated from Delhi University in 1987 and during the break that followed, she was driven to find something with which she could occupy herself. She felt as if she needed a challenge. As an artist, she decided to do something artisitc and ever since being interested in fashion, the natural choice was to try designing outfits. She hence began designing outfits for herself. This led inevitably to creating clothes for her friends-and suddenly she was in business! She thought that the things needed to change if she wanted to successfully pursue a professional career in fashion design. So, a decision was made and she later enrolled in the national Institute of Fashion Technology in 1988.
The tertiary education centre is linked to the F.I.T (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York, and had just been established in Delhi. Spending two years at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, she learnt many of the skills needed to pursue a professional career in fashion design.
Ritu started her illustrious career in fashion when she created her first line of clothing in 1990, called Lavanya. Lavanya was her graduation collection, created in December of 1990, after she became one of the first students to complete the fashion study course. She achieved instant success with this collection where a couple of her creations were a sell-out! It was a complete success for Ritu in her homeland and on the international market, with the range selling out very quickly. Recognized as a player in the international fashion scene, with Lavanya paving the way, Ritu went on to create Sanskriti in 1995. Sanskriti was a path-breaking way of tracing her roots. Her creations were the result of India`s scintillating cultural heritage and her traditional values in retrospect she divided her collection into 4 sequence. It was this range of clothing that delighted the ethnic Indian population and made her an even bigger star in her own country.
Ritu Beri later made her mark at the greatest peacetime event. She joined in the Olympic fever, by creating a special collection for the contingent to be worn at the opening ceremony. According to her, designing clothes for the Indian contingent was a great honour and a big challenge. At the heart of this burgeoning Indian fashion scene is Ritu Beri, a designer who is gaining recognition all around the globe for her sometimes simple, other times intricate designs, a woman who is putting India on the fashion map.
Ritu Beri has created the uniforms for many Indian companies, such as the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Delhi, the Delhi Police force, the Indian competitors to the Atlanta Olympic Games and has also created pieces for Indian cinema (Bollywood). She is also a columnist in many of India`s leading journals.
Ritu is said by many to be the driving force behind India`s newly emerging power in the fashion industry. She`s very marketable, with her stunning good looks and provocative designs, and is likely to pave the way for many Indian designers to come.
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