Ritu Kumar opens a new store in Dubai

Gulf News

One of India's most iconic fashion designers has opened a new store in Dubai Festival Centre. Kumar is famous world-wide for her focus on using natural fabrics and weaving techniques she developed in India. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

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00:00One of India's most iconic fashion designers has opened her second shop in Dubai.

00:09Ritu Kumar is famous in the fashion industry around the world for her focus on using natural

00:14fabrics and traditional printing and weaving techniques.

00:16India has been known for its very exotic embroideries, its bridal collections, its sometimes over

00:23the top dressing and we love costumery so this is what India is known for.

00:28This line actually is very, very much more high street but with the difference.

00:35The difference is the fabrics we use are very natural, they're mainly a lot of cottons which

00:39the world almost is not using any longer and it comes from a root which is as deep as India

00:46goes and its fabrics.

00:48It's taken inspiration from the main craft areas of India, used the aesthetic and put

00:55it onto fairly modern clothes which the younger generation or anybody could vibe with.

01:02So this is what is exciting about the collection.

01:04Being a fashion designer in India during the post-independence era, Kumar was forced to

01:08look inwards for inspiration as well as materials and supplies.

01:11We were almost barefoot doctors going out into the field to discover the embroideries,

01:17the prints, it was the post-independence era in India and then there was a ban on just

01:23about anything that is imported.

01:25I couldn't import a button or a zip.

01:28So we had to find alternatives from within the country and thereby we came up with a

01:33very, very strong identity out of India and it still continues.

01:39Perhaps the only country in the world which is not dictated by Paris or New York.

01:46We don't follow trends in India, we create our own trends.

01:50With nearly 50 years behind her in the fashion industry, Kumar has seen a change and evolve

01:54in both India and globally.

01:56When I started, the craftspeople and their work was non-existent.

02:00We're talking about almost 150 years of colonial rule whereby the taxes that were levied on

02:07these indigenous crafts actually had wiped them out.

02:11So when we went back to work in this area, at least when I did, I had to look at museum

02:17collections to even figure out what was it that at one time they mean.

02:22It was not an easy journey, but it was very, very exciting and enriching.

02:28Ritu Kumar is synonymous with haute couture in India and feels that high fashion can apply

02:32to more than just ballroom gowns.

02:34So couture in India may be defined in slightly different ways.

02:37They may not be ball gowns, but very definitely six months of work on a lehenga for a bride

02:44is couture to my mind.

02:46In India, it is very, very much alive and kicking.

02:50Ritu Kumar joins an ever-growing list of world-famous fashion designers setting up shop in Dubai

02:55as the Emirate continues to shine as one of the premier fashion centres in the world.

03:00Logan Fish for Tabloid.

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