Ritu Beri offers Europe Indian flair

Ritu Beri offers Europe Indian flair
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

PARIS, JUNE 24: Indian opulence met Western style as Delhi-based designer Ritu Beri targeted European style mavens with her new collection for the `Woman of the West'. Her show at a private club in Paris's chic Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore reflected both the richness of Indian fabrics and embroidery, and the comfort of everyday Parisian styles.

Beri's collection consisted of Capri pants of varying lengths, with wide embroidered cuffs, apired with satin brocade bib tops and held together by tiny cris-cross straps revealing bare backs.

Sari blouses in saffron, turquoise and purple, ankle-length flowing silk skirts inlaid with Swarovski crystals or richly embroidered patterns worn with cropped halter tops, covered by luxurious stoles.

``I was trying to do something that would be more acceptable to the audience, something that people could relate to,'' Beri said after the show, adding that it was a mix of different looks, colours and materials to which she gave a new twist.

The designer herself wore slim-led black pants and a simple black tank top with a short jacket of ecru lace, adopting her show's ``Melange'' theme of contemporary fashion with a traditional flair. Beri's evening wear was equally sumptuous. A cap-sleeve gold gown paired with a vibrant purple and green silk stole.

An intricate purple border at the waist and hem adorned a two-piece sage green ensemble, topped with a multicolored floral wrap. She also showed some of her wedding designs, eliciting gasps from the hundreds of well-heeled guests in their evening finery attendingthe club's annual party.

One of the models wore a scoop-neck beige silk tank paired with a matching floor-length skirt, encrusted with stones. Another wore a shimmering silvery bikini top veiled by a sheet wrap with a hip-hugging full skirt with a jeweled waistband, a thin belt skimming her waist.

``It's beyond fashion, it's art,'' raved one of the guests. The European and Asian models on the flowering tree-lined runway wore crystalnose studs and rings attached to bracelets by a line of stones, as well as intricate jeweled headpieces, lending an exotic air to the more western designs.

Beri has boutiques both in New Delhi and Mumbai, and among other national honours, she was also tapped to outfit the Indian Olympic team for the 1996 summer games in Atlanta.

The young designer's star rose in Europe lst year, after she became the first Indian designer to show haute couture in Paris last July. Her second show in the French capital came in January.

Asked if her successes in Paris over the past year had changed her marketing strategy for Europe, Beri said: ``I can only tell you that there is going to be a big surprise very soon.'' She said her next show in Paris would be in October, when she would present a ready-to-wear collection.