Top 10 Women Fashion Designers Who Rule The Industry

If you want to see the Indian ladies who are taking #BeTheBoss to heart, then look no further than some of our leading women fashion designers.

For a long time, even fashion designing was mostly an industry dominated by men. Particularly in India, women could not hope to break into the industry due to cultural constraints and the lack of welcome from international audiences.

These women stormed the fashion designing stage and showed the world the dazzling skills of Indian women. While some of them are household names, a few of these ladies are better known internationally than in India, sadly.

If you want to know about influential female fashion designers, then you must recognize these women. Meet our leading women designers.

Top 10 Famous Women Fashion Designers in India

There are many famous female fashion designers. So, here are list of designers:

#1. Ritu Kumar

The grande dame of India’s fashion design industry, Ritu Kumar has been designing clothes for over twenty years now. Born in Amritsar, despite her clear taste for design, she initially studied Art History in New York and Museology after that. It was only in the 1960s that she started working with her true passion for designing bridal clothes.

Her label, LABEL Ritu Kumar boasts designer apparel for the global young woman. In 2013 she was given the Padma Shri award by the Government of India.

#2. Anamika Khanna

Born in Jodhpur, rightfully famous for its gorgeous textiles Anamika Khanna shows the influence of her hometown. She is best known for her West and East fusions. Some of her most exciting early work was with traditional Indian textiles and techniques that used Western tailoring.

Her work is also frequently seen in popular Bollywood movies, with Sonam Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Jacqueline Fernandez and other famous B-town style icons being known for being enthusiastic patrons. Her label is the eponymous Anamika.

Are you cut out for Fashion Designing?

#3. Masaba Gupta

Masaba Gupta was born in Mumbai, glitz capital of India, to cricketer Viv Richards and actress Neena Gupta. Her style is well known to be contemporary and new.

At the tender age of nineteen, she applied for Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai with support from Wendell Rodricks, an icon in India’s fashion industry himself. At the fresh age of 24, she was named fashion label Satya Paul’s director. She is noted for taking chances and being unconventional with her style.

#4. Neeta Lulla

Neeta Lulla is a niche name, but she would be very well known to Bollywood aficionados. She has worked on innumerable films and has won the National Film Award for Best Costume Design three times, for Devdas, Jodhaa Akbar, and Balgandharva.

Neeta Lulla is also an outspoken advocate against gender-based violence, frequently using her status to speak out for change. She opened The Whistling Wood International Neeta School of Fashion in Mumbai, which is a good option for women looking at fashion design colleges.

#5. Rina Dhaka

Rina Dhaka came like a creative tornado into the fashion world in late 1980 and immediately made her mark. Internationally as celebrated as she is in India, she has been featured in Vogue and Elle. Her star-studded clientele includes Naomi Campbell and Uma Thurman. She cites her time at Intercraft after college as an essential training period.

Read here the most popular fashion designing courses in India.

Delhi based Ritu Beri is not just a designer, she is a brand. A graduate of the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi, she is an example of what formal training in designing courses can mean for a visionary woman.

She is internationally famous for being the first Asian designer to head a French fashion brand. She flagged off the first Lakme India Fashion Week and has now been appointed the prestigious position of Advisor to Khadi & Village Industries Commission of the Ministry of MSMEs of the Indian Govt. Her website is an example of her unique style.

#7. Anita Dongre

The founder of the House of Anita Dongre, her creative impulse couldn’t be restrained to just one brand. She has founded four brands, including the eponymous Anita Dongre which is a must-have for brides looking for exclusive bridalwear, Global Desi, AND, and Anita DongreGrassroot. Dong studies for a degree in fashion design at the PremlilaVithaldas Polytechnic of SNDT College.

#8. Surily Goel

Coming to the younger crew, Surily Goel or ‘Surily G’ to go by her label name, is one of the most recognizable of the hip new designers who have stormed the global fashions scene. She studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and started her label in 2003.

She has several recognizable movie credits to add to her designer resume, such as Salaam Namaste, Jaan-e-Mann, Ta Ra Rum Pum, and even including ‘The Last Lear’ for art film cred.

Not a sad look, eh, ladies?

#9. Gauri And Nainika

Gauri & Nainika Karan are also part of the (relative) new crew. They launched their label Gauri&Nainika in January 2002 in New Delhi. Their style is firmly in the evening wear brand, and as they say, their bold designs are ‘for a confident woman.' Not only is their style gorgeous, but their ethos is also one that we can all look up to.

#10. Mrinalini Gupta

Wild child MrinaliniGupta’s fans are many, and they are loyal. Her brand caters to the ‘minimalist and practical.' Still young, she talks about her time at National Institute of Fashion Technology as a period when she saw a lot of stress in the garments of fashion and decided characteristically to go against the trend.

She talks about wanting to do ‘dirty fashion,' with solid colors and loose, sympathetic silhouettes that reflect Benaras, a profound influence on her. Gupta says her philosophy is no philosophy, but I think we can all learn a lot from her discipline and her firm, self-confident spirit.

Check out the best fashion institutes in India for a career in fashion.