Ritu Kumar History: Textiles in Use

Textile research, skilled workshops and changing ways of dressing.

ÉPOPLI · 2026-10-12

Portrait of designer Ritu Kumar.Bollywood Hungama · CC BY 3.0. Web-sized copy; source framing retained. · Source · Rights

When cloth meets the body

Ritu Kumar history asks how historical textiles can return to use outside a museum. The 2015 Varanasi Weaves collection brought metallic brocades, silk and white-on-white pattern together. Brocade builds decoration through supplementary threads rather than simply printing a surface. A sari changes the direction of its motifs as the cloth passes around the waist and shoulder. These weaving traditions therefore become visible through a moving body, not only a flat sample. The project also considered gyaser textiles associated with Buddhist monasteries. Different uses of fabric became part of one investigation into what people commission, circulate and wear.

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Small beginnings in Kolkata

Ritu Kumar history begins with her birth in Amritsar in 1944 and an education in art history. Harvard Business School records her completion of Lady Irwin College in Delhi in 1964 and studies at Briarcliff College in New York in 1966. Returning to India, a museology course in Kolkata led her to the block printers of Serampore. Her business is dated to 1969, initially with four printers and two tables. This block printing depended on people preparing fabric, aligning carved blocks and building layers of colour. The early enterprise connected an existing local skill with garments rather than starting with a large fashion-house organisation.

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Research and orders

Ritu Kumar history developed between textile research and commercial production. In an FDCI interview she acknowledges figures including Jasleen Dhamija, Laila Tyabji and Martand Singh. She brought block-printed clothing to French ready-to-wear markets in the 1970s and published a study of royal Indian costume and textiles in 1999. Understanding a garment involves its lining, fastening and embroidery weight as well as its visible motif. Here block printing creates rhythm across a broad area, while metallic embroidery can emphasise particular edges. The same flower has a different tactile and visual effect in each technique. Research and retail meet in the practical question of sustaining orders for skilled production.

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The Gazal jacket

Ritu Kumar history can also be examined through the Gazal jacket and lehenga worn by Aditi Rao Hydari at India Couture Week in 2023. Zardozi and Kashmiri design elements decorated the jacket; the skirt combined geometric and floral motifs. This metallic embroidery directs attention around the upper body, while the separate jacket and skirt retain a clear waist boundary. Her return to that couture week after roughly a decade included capes, dresses and Anarkalis as well as jackets. Their different structures allocate different surfaces to ornament. Tradition appears as a repertoire of forms with distinct movements, rather than one fixed category of ceremonial dress.

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A family garment worn again

Ritu Kumar history includes restoring existing clothes. For Kareena Kapoor’s wedding, work on a family garment involved makers from Metiabruz; the FDCI interview describes about five months of work. Restoration for wearing differs from displaying an old object because its surviving decoration must meet the demands of a body. Such workshop collaboration connects research with an actual client. Weavers, embroiderers and garment makers contribute different skills, just as they do when weaving traditions enter a contemporary collection. Comparing restoration with new production shows that change does not always require discarding the previous garment.

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The house and its design team

Ritu Kumar history also involves organisational change. Reliance Retail Ventures announced the acquisition of a 52 per cent stake in 2021; that is the transaction figure at that date. In 2026, the house’s six-look couture campaign was reported as designed by her son Amrish Kumar. Kareena Kapoor modelled, with film by The Badly Drawn Boy and art by Disha Dey. This wider workshop collaboration extends into image-making. The distinction between a founder’s own designs and later work under the house name matters: the campaign continues an archive through a team, rather than representing every garment as the founder’s personal design.

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Textiles for changing lives

Ritu Kumar history remains visible in the 2026 Jamawar gown, combining digitally printed paisley with embroidery on silk satin. Another look paired a Rajwadi blouse and Chogha-inspired jacket with denim. These garments resist a simple opposition between handmade tradition and modern technology. Beside the Gazal jacket and Varanasi saris, they offer contrasting structures: draped cloth, a cut upper body and a continuous gown silhouette. In a 2026 interview the founder discussed adapting clothing to younger people who do not wear saris daily. The useful question is not only whether an old motif survives, but how its wearers and uses change.

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Timeline

1944 — Born in Amritsar.
1969 — Business begins in Kolkata.
1999 — Book on royal Indian costume and textiles published.
2015 — Varanasi Weaves collection.
2021 — Reliance Retail Ventures announces stake acquisition.
2023 — Return to India Couture Week.
2026 — House campaign with designs attributed to Amrish Kumar.