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Indian Designers |
Indian fashion existed long before Indian designers hit the spotlight. One has to only look at the old paintings of Indian Princes and Princesses to understand their fine sense of style and glamour. Indian Royalty only decked up in fine embroidered silk garments and adorned precious stones. It is therefore no wonder that today Indian designers have created a niche for themselves in international fashion, as fine colorfully rich materials, sequins work and exquisite embroidery can be found only in India.
Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla
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This duo has won international acclaim because of their innovativeness and haute couture style. Both incidentally worked under costumes designer Xerxes Bhatena and decided to combine their unique talents together to create the Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla collections. Abu, whose forte is designing sketches and while Sandeep's, is handling fabrics. Together they have traveled to remote regions of India and revived heritage crafts like Chikan, Zardozi, Sequins and Beadwork.
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Apart from designing clothes, they also specialize in interior designing and have designed interiors for film personalities like Jaya and Amitabh Bachan, Dimple Kapadia and industrialist Rajan and Ritu Nanda. The Bachan family prominently promotes their clothes and international actresses like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith have worn their creations. They also designed gowns for Sophie Marceau in 1999 Bond Flick The World Is Not Enough. They are also one of the first Indian designers to display their clothes at Harrods, London.
Ritu Kumar
The name Ritu Kumar is synonymous with Indian fashion, which is a rich combination of traditional and modern design. Her creations are rich in embroidery and her garments are of the finest quality. Ritu is one of the first Indian designers to revive traditional crafts and has established that products of the work of the hand can be as profitable as and even more sensational than that of machine. She first began her work with craft in 1968 by setting up two block painting tables in a village in Bengal.
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She has extensively researched on the textile crafts of India and revived the Zardozi, Kantha and Kashida embroidery techniques. Today she works with the crafts from other parts of the country and has designed wardrobes including swim wear, evening wear, traditional Indian wear, casual wear, formal evening gowns that have been worn by Indian beauty contestants at International beauty pageants.
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Ritu Beri
This global fashion designer has made India proud with her achievements. After having completed her fashion degree from National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, she created her first line of clothing in 1990 called Lavanya. This collection was not only a success in India but was a sell-out in Liberty, London. Lavanya paved the way for Ritu to establish herself in the international fashion market and she created another clothing line called Sanskriti in 1995. She designed uniforms for companies like the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Delhi, the Delhi Police Force and created glamours outfits for Bollywood Actors. Her recent achievements include the launch of her ready to wear collection on Paris in the year 2000 and she is the first Asian designer to head a French fashion brand - Scherrer. Ritu also established the Ritu Beri Fashion Fraternity (RBFF) to promote talented designers in the Indian fashion industry.
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Rina Dhaka
Rina Dhaka is an experimental fashion designer, who brings out the most innovative garments and is known for recreating the look of the 40s, 50s and 60s in her collection. Rina has been in the Indian fashion industry for over 15 years and she became popular during the 80s for her confident and contemporary western designs. According to her fashion is about severity and seduction.
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Her works have been featured in international fashion magazines like Elle, Vanity Fair and Vogue. She is known for her sheer trousers, crochet, stretch jersey, woolens and spider web motifs.
Her clothes also sell in London, New York and in Italy. International celebrities including Uma Thurman and Naomi Campbell have worn her creations. Indian beauties like Lara Dutta and Diana Hayden also prefer her clothes. Rina has received the Yuv Rattan Award and in 2002 she showcased her couture collection at the Singapore Fashion Week.
Rohit Bal
One of India's most celebrated fashion designers, Rohit Bal is a compulsive designer, known for his trademark embroidery, who first hit the spotlight with his traditional wear for men in 1990 and has not looked back ever since. His sense of aesthetics is unique and his creations are influenced by history, fantasy and folklore. Time magazine dubbed him as India's Master of fabric and fantasy. Bal has his own factories creating exceptional materials and also has access to best workmanship in the industry. He has had successful fashion shows in not only in India, but also New York, London, Paris, Singapore, Mauritius and San Paolo. His achievements include the India Fashion Award Designer of the Year in 2001 and 2004 and he has been recently commissioned by British Airways to revamp uniforms of their South Asian crew. His clientele include international celebrities like Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson and Anna Kournikova.
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Manish Malhotra
The ultimate designer of Bollywood, Manish Malhotra shot to fame when he created completely new looks for Indian actresses Urmila Matondkar and Karisma Kapoor, changing their dress style, revamping their make up and hairdo techniques. He turned them into style icons overnight with his creations. He is the most favored designer in the Indian film industry and his clientele includes Amitabh Bachan, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Kareena Kapoor and Preity Zinta among others. He is one of the few designers to maintain a balance between costumes and mainstream designing. He is known for his bright colored clothing including free flowing silhouettes and textures shirts with sparkles. The National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi and the Indo American Society facilitated Manish for his contributions to field of fashion designing and he also received the Stylish Designer of the Year Award at the Elle Style Awards in 1999.
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Satya Paul
The brain behind Satya Paul collection is that of Puneet Nanda, who used his father's name to launch popular, chic and up market wear. Satya Paul saris, suit fabrics, shirts and blouses are famous for their bright colors, unique intricate designs and vivid contrasts. Nanda uses calligraphy and inspirations from Western and Indian paintings and sculpture to create his collections. The Satya Paul collection includes a lovely range of bridal wear, accessories and menswear. His playful and innovative clothing line is aimed at enhancing the personality of a free spirited, perceptive and desiring woman. Nanda is highly creative, having experience in the field of photography, graphic design and textiles. He has also worked with Parisian designers. Nanda designs garments with a global appeal in an ever changing and multifaceted color palette. In 2004, his fashion show "Colors of Life" took place amidst the eclectic interiors of Madame Tussauds in London.
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