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It's finally happening… India is making its mark on the international fashion scene. As a small group of Indian designers make their presence felt in the west by selling in prestigious stores. They may not make headlines in the western press as yet, but they do have their own set of loyal buyers.

Princess Diana in a Ritu Kumar creation

Ritu Kumar

She has pioneered the revival of ethnic textile prints and is one of the country most respected designers. Ritu has created an international name for herself by selling at well known stores like Gallerie Lafeyette in Paris and in the Far East for several years now. She has dressed many Indian beauty queens including Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai, Manpreet Brar, Sandhya Chib, Nafisa Joseph and, more recently, Miss World 1997 Diana Hayden.

Her exclusive store in London, Ritu's, was a favourite haunt of the late Princess Diana who shopped there with good friend Jemima Khan. Ritu, in her own little way, has managed introduce the salwar kameez as an alternative fashion garment to the western woman.

Ritu Beri

A recent poll in a national magazine voted Ritu Beri the best-known designer in India. Not only has Ritu has won several awards, she has also regularly displayed her creations in China, the US and Germany. Little wonder, then, that her creations are much in demand abroad. Ritu's creations are available in Liberty on Regent Street and Rehana's collection in Green Street in the UK. In the US, she retails at Silk Heritage, New Jersey.

Gitanjali Kashyap

A Gitanjali Kashyap creation

She started rather modestly in 1985, but is climbing the ladder of success ever since. She loves getting exclusive fabrics woven for all her collections and spends months in Benaras where weavers dream up special fabrics for her.

When Bijenkof held an Indian festival in the Netherlands some years ago it was Gitanjali's line that they found most suitable. Little wonder, then, that they turned to her when they decided to stock Indian labels. She also has a good buyer in Gallerie Lafayette in Paris, which has bought a whole collection of her creations for the coming season.

Gitanjali has also moved into Singapore, where she showed her line at the Fashion Connection '97.

Bela Parekh

A popular ethnic wear designer, Bela has made a mark for herself in Bombay and Madras. She works with Maheswari fabrics, silks, handlooms and south cottons, using vegetable dyes for prints and embellishing her designs with delicate embroidery.

She started exporting some simple Indo-West combinations to a Swedish boutique called Indigo in Malmo. Her collections have been a sell-out there each season and the Swedish press front-paged her on her latest visit.

Her label will be available at the Art and Handicraft store in Netherlands. Post the Collection Premier Dusseldorf fair which was held in Germany this year, Bela's line will also be available in Stuttgart at the Balusi Bela Moda store.

Xerxes Bhathena

A Ritu Beri creation

Xerxes revolutionised the fashion business in the Indian movies by turning Parveen Babi, Zeenat Aman, Dimple Kapadia, Madhuri Dixit and every top heroine into sexy sirens. Known as the Bob Macky of India, Xerxes is now one of the most popular Indian labels in the west.

He has been retailing for many years at the Shaukeen boutique in San Francisco, US. His ethnic collection is available at Bijou collections and La Khas, London. While, in South Africa, Xerxes Bhathena has proved to be a popular label at Ruby Collections, Johannesburg.

Suneet Varma

He has always been at the centre of the fashion action. After graduating from American College of Fashion, London, he worked with French Connection and Nicole Farni. Suneet then returned to India, set up a store in Bombay and an exclusive outlet in Delhi before creating a programme on fashion for television.

Suneet's periodic visits to the west have got him into the retailing business in Europe and the US. His label is available at Bergdoff Goodman, Henri Bendel, the Gallerie

A Leena Tipnis creation

Lafayette in Paris and the Calvin Klein Flagship in New York. He also designs textiles for Heimtextile in Germany.

Leena Tipnis

Leena has made quite an impact on the Indian fashion scene with her successful amalgamation of ethnic and fusion wear. Her label, Linarika, also sells in the Far East and UK. After her designs were displayed at the Collection Premier Dusseldorf fair, Atelier 33 (a German company) has signed on her creations for the coming spring and summer.