Fashion career profile
Ritu Kumar
Ritu Kumar is an Indian fashion designer and entrepreneur whose career helped establish boutique fashion and a modern market for Indian textiles. After studying art history at Lady Irwin College and Briarcliff College, she pursued a museology course in Calcutta. A visit to a village of hand-block printers led her to build a small handicrafts business with local artisans, initially selling printed saris through a Kolkata grocery store before expanding into Delhi. Her first Delhi boutique opened in 1966. The business later grew into multiple portfolios, including bridal and ready-to-wear lines, while her design work continued to draw on regional weaving, printing and embroidery traditions. Kumar fulfilled a large order of scarves before taking stalls in Paris and New York in the early 1970s, according to her Harvard Business School oral history. She published *Costumes and Textiles of Royal India* in 1999, became the first woman president of the Fashion Design Council of India in 2004, and received the Padma Shri in 2013. This profile treats her craft revival, business-building and public recognition as connected but distinct parts of her career.
- Role
- Founder, Ritu Kumar
- Nationality
- Indian
- Age
- 81
- Retail history: First Delhi boutique, 1966The designer’s official social account dates the Defence Colony store to 1966. · Ritu Kumar
- International work: Takes stalls in Paris and New York in the early 1970sThe Harvard Business School interview says a large scarf order preceded these international stalls. · Harvard Business School Baker Library
- Publication: *Costumes and Textiles of Royal India*, 1999The book records Kumar’s research interest in Indian dress history and textiles. · Harvard Business School Baker Library
- Industry leadership: First woman president of FDCI, 2004Business Today reported the appointment in its profile of Kumar. · Business Today
- Recognition: Padma Shri awardee, 2013The Government of India lists her in the 2013 Padma Awards announcement. · Press Information Bureau, Government of India
- 1966 — Opens first Delhi boutiqueRitu Kumar’s official account dates her first Delhi store to 1966.
- 1999 — Publishes Costumes and Textiles of Royal IndiaThe book is listed in Harvard Business School’s interview resources.
- 2004 — Becomes FDCI’s first woman presidentThe appointment is documented in a contemporary Business Today profile.
- 2013 — Receives the Padma ShriThe Government of India lists Kumar among the 2013 Padma Shri awardees.