As one of the revivalist of textiles, Ritu Kumar has crossed many hurdles in her long journey to become the leading couturier of country. “For me working on textiles is nothing but a work of art. For the kind of work I do, classifying me as fashion designer would be inappropriate. It is just that while I was pursing my passion for saris that the word designer was used by the media to describe my work.”
Meticulous to the core, Kumar has again done extensive research for showcasing Kalamkari technique of painting and printing on outfits at Nayaab exhibition in Delhi. “Interestingly, Kalamkari motifs were exported to Persia to prepare rugs. To study this, I went to various museums like Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I used my artistic license to use them on shawls. Kalamkari is not necessarily meant for home furnishing. It can very well work on stoles and skirts as well.”
Contours of crafts
Going down memory lane, Kumar says seeds for her love of textiles were sown when the dynamic ladies Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Pupul Jayakar were laying the contours of Indian crafts.
“Their work was basically to discover old crafts which had died. And in the process of their discovery they stumbled upon new techniques like weaving, printing and embroideries. And they actually brought it to the fore. So it was exciting as well as an onerous responsibility as they took on to ensure that these crafts come alive. Today I would say that they have managed to a large extent to bring back crafts into focus,” says Kumar, who studied art history at Briarcliff College in New York.
Ritu Kumar
On how the two stalwarts groomed her in practical sense, Kumar says: “Each had their own vision and aesthetic sensibilities. I met both of them at different times; the duo guided me where to go and where to locate things. Ms. Jayakar send me to Farukhabad where hand block printing is done. Kamaladevi introduced me to some parts of Bengal.”
Visiting hamlets of Bengal for the first time and seeing the fabulous work done by artisans must have been an eye opener.
“Nobody knew that such worksmanship was alive; not even me. Someone who did higher studies in arts, I could look at their work purely in terms of arts and crafts,” she says. “Some part of my collection was always heavily embroidered because I have worked on zardozi. However, largely it has been light. I don’t like heavy clothes. Over the years, clothes have become lighter and finer to cater for the young generation.”
A firm believer in democratic debates at home, Kumar encourages her siblings to argue and even criticise while putting across their views on any of her work. “My association with Ashvin, my filmmaker son, is when I do costumes for his films. He is not interested in fashion but he loves textiles. He is now coming up with a film on Kashmir and I have used created outfits by drawing inspiration from old stoles and phirans of the Valley. Amrish, my younger son, is professionalising the company. Except for generational problems which always happen, they do come up with suggestions.”
Like Kumar readily agreed when Amrish convinced her to move from saris to ready to wear which younger persons relate to. She is not averse to learning from the young. “We don’t appreciate, but younger generation is working in crafts sector.”
Passing priceless heirloom from one generation to another was the norm earlier. These days garments are no longer meant for keeps. “If the textiles are beautiful, nobody would dump them. But if it is an old pair of jeans, it needs to be thrown away after it wears off,” she says with an impish smile.
New challenges
“One of the challenge was to make Indian textiles and crafts acceptable. As there is a great deal of information, there is always danger of losing track of how rich our crafts are in India. So we have to strike a balance when we make a collection by allocating certain percentage only to textiles. This way memory will be kept alive. With influx of multiple designs and variations churned by machines, the challenge for us is to make our crafts even better than what we are making now. It cannot be done only by convincing people.”
Sharing how the computer bug is catching up at Serampore, where she has been working with hand block printers of Bengal. “Some workers are computerising their own craft. It is what will happen in future. I am happy that this village is moving into screen printing. This is the future.”
Building bridges
On how she has been working as bridge between the fashion industry and powers that be, Kumar says: “I have tried but have not been 100 % successful. I have been on the All India Handloom Board to press for softening of taxes on handicrafts and handloom. I wanted it to be put in a section where it doesn’t have to compete with machine-made goods. It is an ongoing process. I did a collection based on Banarasi textiles, and it has come out very well. Often I have been told to speak in forums and interact as they want to know what fashion industry feels. This government is far more pro-active in handloom and crafts sector. China has lost it completely; we still have a textile heritage that is functional. We must preserve it.”
Pointing out that the West is no longer relevant as far as handloom is concerned, she says: “It neither uses our fabric nor associate with it. It is the Indian market which is the largest customer base. I hope that India becomes the largest producer of organic indigenous fashion.”
Kumar is now passing on her illustrious legacy to the youth of this country in her own inimitable way. “I have a large archive in Delhi which is accessible to all fashion enthusiasts. Idea is to familiarise not only our team of designers and interns but also kids as we are lacking in textile museums big time,” says Kumar.
So will we see her starting her own museum? “It may not be physical one, but a virtual one. We have archived most of them,” she says as the parting shot.
