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RITU BERI
- always in style
 She's
perhaps one of the best-known names in urban India
- along with those of film stars and politicians. If not
in India, then certainly in north India.
Ritu was among the first batch of graduates from NIFT
in 1990 and today - just ten years later - is a doyenne
of the Indian fashion world. How did this happen? Was
it just lucky chance or a combination of talent, marketing
skills and yes, perhaps some luck thrown in for good measure…
along with a beautiful, photogenic face that made her
the darling of photographers and had the media beating
a track to her door.
It would be incorrect, however, to assume that the Ritu
Beri media blitz of the 90's is the reason for her success
today. Her face may have lent glamour to otherwise dull
newsprint and her story, made good copy - but it was her
achievements that brought her media attention - and a
number of awards which began with the Yuva Rattan Award
in 1992.
In that year she won a total of three major awards, and
in 1993, another three. The list is long and impressive
- and concludes with five awards in 2000 including the
Dadabhai Naoroji Award for Excellence and Lifetime
Achievements and the All India Feroze Gandhi Memorial
Award for Excellence in Fashion Designing.
 Today,
she displays her creations not only on the catwalks of
India - but in the fashion centres of the world: London,
Paris, New York, Washington D.C., Vienna, Cairo - a traveller's
dream.
Recently, she participated in the Paris Fashion Week.
It is here that names are made; stars are created. Ritu
showed her pret-a-porter (ready to wear) line in Paris
during this week. Her collection was shown along with
those of the world's most acclaimed designers.
Ritu Beri has had an extraordinary sense of destiny -
which no obstacle or set-back has succeeded in dispelling.
It is this, perhaps, that has enabled her to walk into
the wind - and to reach her destination every time.
When I caught up with her, she was in the midst of frantic
last minute preparations for the Paris Fashion Week. She
was pretty excited about the whole thing. "I have nothing
to lose and everything to gain. I'm not nervous - only
excited. It's such a fabulous opportunity to be even accepted
as a participant….you cannot imagine what this means to
me. Even if my designs are just noticed, I will be happy.
Of course - if some store like Saks Fifth Avenue
should decide to buy my line…." She pauses here, looking
distantly into some designer heaven - then, shaking her
beautiful head she says, "No, I'm not going to think ahead.
Just day to day, get everything ready; design and cut
- cut and design - perfectly. Then we'll see."
- SHANTA BHALLA |
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