‘Indian brands not big enough for global market yet’

Amrish Kumar, son of design czarina Ritu Kumar, shares future footprints with Asmita Sarkar

Indian fashion is still largely ruled by indigenous sensibilities and there is some way before the industry goes international. However, that doesn’t mean India lacks a fashion grammar. Our design heritage, language and product heritage simply sets us apart.  While silhouettes and drapes have been influenced by the West like the recent fusion sari showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week, the traditional aspect is not left behind and designers often moonlight as revivalists.

“For international customers, there is a new segment that has more to do with street fashion. What’s interesting about India is that we have our own type of dressing that we cater to but there is still some time till home-grown brands become big,” says Amrish Kumar, CEO of the Ritu Kumar company, who had launched the pret line Label  in the early 2000s. In an attempt to do exactly that, they have diversified towards jewellery to present a holistic offering to the customers.

The subsidiary launched its spring/summer 19 collection at the Lakme Fashion Week, which has been co-designed with Sylvie Giacobbi, who is a senior designer with the company. Having collaborated together for years they asked her to come on for a larger role because of her contemporary and global outlook. The collection, titled Native Spirit, is an ode to nature and the great outdoors. It blends elements of tribal art from Native American in the form of colour blocking, shading, floral prints, layering, frills and sequins. It renders the essence of the great outdoors in striking prints and colours.

The collection’s colour palette is a mix of burgundies, reds and mustards with a twist of fresh citrus pastels. It uses modern details such as leather braiding, clean metal accents and abstract prints inspired from tribal artworks placed on chiffons, cotton silks and crepes. 

“For Label, we minimised lot of the influences to make it modern and simple for which we relied on the cuts and drapes to make that presentation. And Indian women are attracted to it since it’s youth-oriented. It has the ability to be easy to wear and forward focussed in terms of silhouettes and so on. It is a fashion line from India and for India,” he says. 

With social media and e-commerce, the fashion line has also gone through a change and Kumar reflects that digital markets are opening up through e-commerce letting new buyers make their first purchases online. It has also increased the exposure of products to the market more than before.

And yet, he feels that fashion weeks will not go out of relevance any time soon. “It more more than just PR, it’s a presentation of your work. You have to present somewhere, this is a space to showcase. The message is simply amplified through social media,” he says.

While e-commerce has made it possible to penetrate untapped markets for the fashion industry, he says that internationally only parts of it are doing well. “We have our own distinct set of supply structure that is not present internationally,” he says.

Kumar’s belief that the Indian fashion industry has not made a large enough impact in the global scene is realistic given that Ritu Kumar has been around for decades. So, where is the fashion industry falling short?