Beri

Ritu Beri (1971) was an indian designer. She says that she became a fashion designer by chance: “Once graduated from the University of Delhi in 1987, I enjoyed myself making my own clothes, then some friends started to ask me to make some for them too, and in a short time, it became a real business.” The big leap had been made, and in order to gain more confidence in cutting, she enrolled, in 1988, at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi, an affiliate of the well-known F.I.T. of New York. In 1990, as part of the defense of her thesis, she created the Lavanya Collection (in Sanskrit it means “charm”), which was later on sale in boutiques on Regent Street. Today her creations are versatile: from T-“shirts to high fashion, and the uniforms she designed for the Indian team at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1994: a white blazer and navy trousers for men, and a dress inspired by the colors of the national flag for women. But it was her passion for embroidery, often in gold, which is her distinctive feature in the world of fashion, and a desire to specialize even more in this technique, that caused her to go to Paris, where she studied with Franµois Lesage. Her clothes, manufactured with silk, velvet, chiffon and denim, always have a sexy touch, which mixes well with oriental tastes and Parisian refinement. Nicole Kidman, often wearing her clothes, made the Indian designer known in Hollywood.