Top 10 Most Popular Indian Fashion Designers of the year

In the current era of brands and designers, no one talks other than these, whether its dressing, shoes, accessories, or home decoration, designer and designing is the main fashion these days. When there is a huge stream of designers, the conscious people look for the top one of them and for this they spend a lot of time searching and researching on it. The fashion industry of India has seen a boom and gained popularity in world as a fashion centric nation. Earlier, not many people knew about Indian fashion; however, today India is a renowned nation famous for its elegant woman’s attire named “Saree” and the fabric. Today, Indian Fashion designers are well known faces in the International Fashion Industry and it is because of these fashion designers that India is in the list of top countries. Their diversification of dressing style has given Indian fashion designers ample scope of creativity. The end result of mixing such diverse dressing styles was FUSION. Right from the traditional salwar kameez or sarees to churidars, kurtis, the semi-formal way of wearing it over trousers or jeans, capris and the highly elegant and contemporary style of draping sarees, from simply cotton blouses to halter-neck and deep necks. Apart from regional clothing, the Bollywood element also holds a domineering part in Indian style. So Let us have a look at Top 10 Indian Fashion Designers, the faces who have taken this Fashion Industry at the top most level.

List of Popular Top 10 Indian Fashion Designers of the year:

Following is the list of top 10 Indian fashion designers.

1. Manish Malhotra

At the age of 25, Manish Malhotra stepped in Bollywood by designing for Juhi Chawla in Swarg. Today, at 34, his name is synonymous with style in Hindi films. Revolutionizing the styles in Bollywood, he envisioned a ‘look’ for the characters. His tenure as a costume-designer has seen him clothe most of the leading actresses in the film industry from Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar, Kajol, Manisha Koirala, Madhuri Dixit, Karishma Kapoor, Twinkle Khanna, Shilpa Shetty, Kareena Kapoor, to Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta. High on his success, Manish Malhotra decided to branch into mainstream designing in 1998. He has delivered bridal goods for many reputed families and his popularity soared during this period when he was exclusively asked to design clothes for Michael Jackson for his appearance during the Bollywood Awards held in New York. The performer was so please that he requested Manish to design outfits for his show in Munich and to design clothes for his children. Manish can be placed at the number 1 position in the list of top 10 Indian fashion designers.

Click here to see Manish Malhotra Latest Saree Designs

2. Wendell Rodricks

At number 2 of the Top 10 Indian fashion Designers, comes Wendell Rodricks. This Designer started out as a catering graduate but found fashion designing was more suited to his palate. His minimalist chic style is a rage among Indian clothes lovers and he is known for his passion for white. He has written special features for Apparel, regular columns for Femina, Goa Today and freelance fashion journalism in major Indian news media. The multi-talented designer`s work includes theatre design, advertising styling and forecast portfolios. The designer is a keen art patron and promotes Goan artists through special promotions at the Wendell Rodricks Couture Salon. The Fundacao Oriente awarded a scholarship to the designer to intern at the prestigious Museu Nacional do Traje in Lisbon, Portugal. Wendell Rodricks also interned at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

3. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla

‘The boys’, as the twosome of Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla are known in the fashion circuit, can be considered among first names in those made it big, by way of success, attention, and fame. It is a creative alliance that exudes attitude and talent. The Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla show is a much waited, though not so frequent event. They push ethnic fashion to the limits, almost to the dictates of their fancies. No wonder they claim that they do not make garments, they make heirlooms. They can be placed with no hesitation at the 3rd position in the list of top 10 Indian fashion designers.

4. Tarun Tahiliani

He is one of the most celebrated fashion designers of India who acquired a degree from The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York. When Tarun Tahiliani came back to India, he realized that there was a huge scope in India in the designer wear sector. He brought a revolution in the field of fashion in 1987, by opening the first fashion boutique in India, named ‘Ensemble’. He established the Tarun Tahiliani Design Studio, situated in New Delhi. His own brand label is known as, Ahilian. The brand is known for its creative style and uniqueness. The designer clothes created by him are sold in Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong, Dubai, and in his stores in New Delhi and Mumbai.

5. JJ Valaya

Born and raised in Jodhpur, Rajasthan; India’s premier fashion designer, JJ Valaya, has made a name for himself as one of the most original and inspired designers working today. The innovatory blend of traditional crafts and contemporary couture generates an alluring, and urbane handiwork as the signature of the House of Valaya. Redefining age-old Indian crafts at a profitable position within the market, he allowed and welcomed the valued artistic processes to live on. In 1994, Valaya became the first Indian couture label to have a solo show in India. Met with stimulated reactions by fashion critics and buyers, the label opened JJ Valaya Life, India’s largest single designer store till date. Since 1997, the House of Valaya has shared the catwalk with many of the world’s top designers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, London, Dubai, New York and Paris. As one of the most respected designers in contemporary fashion, JJ Valaya continues to wow fashion’s toughest critics with his two apparel lines, Couture and Diffusion, and his product labels Valaya Home and Studio Valaya.

6. Rina Dhaka

India’s leading fashion designer who burst onto the fashion world in late 1980s is the Winner of Yuv Rattan Award; she is counted among the creative and innovative designers of the country. She set up a ‘Salwar Kameez’ boutique for one of her acquaintances. Around this time ‘Mutiny’ and ‘Ensemble’ were just coming up as fashion houses and she made a line of designs for them. She is best known for her assortments like sheer trousers, crochet, and stretch jersey, woolens and spider web motifs and her specialty remains the western wear. Un-afraid of experimenting, in one of her collections, she had mixed fur and boots with her Indian outfits.

Rina Dhaka has held shows in London, Paris, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, and Jakarta. Her Singapore shows in 2001 and 2002 were big hits. International fashion magazines ‘Vogue’ and ‘Elle’ featured her work.

7. Manish Arora

At number 7 in the list of top 10 Indian fashion designers comes Manish Aroroa who doesn’t need any introduction. In 1997 Manish Arora launched his Label “Manish Arora” and started retailing in India. 3 years later in 2000, Manish represented India at the Hong Kong Fashion Week and participated at the first ever India Fashion Week held in New Delhi. The following year Manish launched his second Label “Fish Fry” and showed this collection in six leading cities in India and was stocked at Lord & Taylor, New York. Arora’s future-in-outer-space inspired line at the Wills India Fashion Week 2007 attracted international viewers. The Indian designer, known for his colorful fashion shows, has created a collection of lipglasses, lipsticks, blush and a fabulous eye palette with bright shades from Yellow to Bright Pink and Acid Green for MAC. And, if what’s inside isn’t enough, the packaging is a fashion accessory in itself.

8. Rohit Bal

Titled as the ‘India’s Master of fabric and fantasy’ by the Time magazine in 1996, Rohit Bal’s sense of aesthetics is finely refined, and each of his creations is handcrafted to perfection. He has access to the best the industry has to offer in terms of materials and workmanship. Rohit Bal worked for a few years with his brother’s export company and in 1990 he created his first line, traditional designer wear for men. Some of his clients include celebrities like Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell and Anna Kournikova. Most of the Rohit Bal’s fashion shows in India, New York, Paris, and Singapore are sponsored by The Swatch Group, and he is the brand ambassador for their Omega Watches, since 2001.

9. Ritu Beri

Number 9th position in the list of Top 10 Indian fashion designers is held by Ritu Beri. She is known as the first Indian designer to present a collection in Paris. There is no comparison for her style and elegance. Today her designs have become a highlight in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, USA, London and Paris. Ritu Beri’s ready-to-wear line is an impressive couture collection that had the French media raving about her. She is one of early fashion designer whose collection made it quite big internationally. Ritu started her illustrious career in fashion when she created her first line of clothing in 1990, called Lavanya. Ritu’s natural choice was to try designing outfits; she enrolled in the newly-opened National Institute of Fashion Technology in 1988. The tertiary education centre is linked to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and had just been established in Delhi. Lavanya was her graduation collection.

10. Ritu Kumar :

One of the earliest and reputed fashion diva amongst fashion buffs, Ritu Kumar has developed a unique style of her own. Her designs reflect the ancient traditions of Indian craftsmanship in a contemporary fashion. With a background of art history and musicology, which has enriched her horizons, Ritu Kumar’s innovative use of traditional crafts has created a new classicism.

Ritu Kumar has been designing the wardrobes of the 3 winning Miss India’s, for their participation in Miss Universe , and Miss World etc. In April 2002, Ritu Kumar launched her new sub brand, ‘LABEL’, accommodating today’s independent woman. This brand has a universal appeal aimed at today’s mobile lifestyle. It is fashionable, affordable and like all Ritu Kumar products, it is of the highest quality.