- Avarna Jain,
Chairperson RPSG Lifestyle Media
Ritu Kumar is bringing couture back to its roots at the FDCI Manifest Wedding Weekend
The designer proves that heritage never goes out of style...
Ritu Kumar will be at FDCI x Manifest Wedding Weekend, celebrating Indian couture in its purest form. Manifest
When you think of Indian couture, chances are the story begins with Ritu Kumar. A name synonymous with heritage and handcraft, her work has defined wedding wardrobes for generations. Long before the idea of a “bridal collection” existed in India, Kumar was bringing artisanal craft clusters and royal customs into a contemporary vocabulary, without losing their soul.
“It all started in the ’70s, when I discovered gold embroidery in craft clusters,” she recalls. “At that time, wedding collections didn’t exist. We layered antique embroidery techniques with inspirations from India’s royal traditions, and that’s been the foundation ever since,” said Kumar.
Conceptually based on Chandua (ceremonial temple canopies) from Odisha, this blanket combines printing styles from across the subcontinentRitu Kumar
Decades later, that philosophy remains unchanged. There are no seasonal gimmicks, no overreliance on modern sparkle. Instead, it’s about perennial beauty—hand embroidery, indigenous textiles, and silhouettes that bridge history and modernity.
Ahead of her showcase at the FDCI x Manifest Wedding Weekend, Kumar reflects on why going back to the roots might just be the future of couture.
In Conversation with Ritu Kumar
Manifest: You’ve been creating bridal collections for decades. How did this journey begin?
Ritu Kumar: Our collections of weddings have been going on since the 70s. As a matter of fact, it was the discovery of gold embroidery in craft clusters which really started me with the wedding collection.
M: How have these collections evolved over time?
R: Over time, we’ve started layering them using antique embroidery techniques and images also from the royal customs of India. And this has been successfully going on, and every season we added a new dimension to the same classic.
M: What makes your bridal couture stand out today?
R: There’s something very perennial about our wedding collections, which do not depend on very modern inputs like crystals and so on and so forth. And we try and stay with a very classic Indigenous Indian traditional line, and that is what we’re bringing to the table again.
M: If you could define couture this wedding season in one thought, what would it be?
R: I feel couture should go back to its roots. It should continue with what India stands for as far as couture is concerned, and it’s a difficult thing because most of it is hand embroidered and you must keep that tradition of our textile heritage going, as well as, of course, use modern shapes and modern silhouettes and maybe pastel colours along with deep colours. But this is what we would like to bring to the table this year.
Photography: Harmeet Singh Sana; Styling: Palak Valecha; Hair and Makeup: Riya Saluja; Videography: Priyanshu Kharb; Production: Varun Shah
If you want to explore the best of couture, jewellery and all things wedding, head to the FDCI Manifest Wedding Weekend this August 2–3, 2025, at the Taj Palace, New Delhi. Register here.
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