It’s about ‘look books’ and stars

At 23, Delhi-based designer Ridhi Mehra is already on top of her game.

Having joined the fashion industry in 2011, Ridhi has already designed for Deepika Padukone, Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Kareena Kapoor, Huma Qureshi and others. And this weekend, she’ll be in the city to showcase her designs at Anahita.

In spite of the A-list clientele, Ridhi says that the work is not as glamorous as it sounds. For starters, the designers rarely get to interact with the stars.
“It’s always the stylists who get in touch. They check out our websites and we send them our ‘look books’. For trials, we are usually supposed to send three or four pieces… it depends,” says Ridhi, who is known for the confluence of European and traditional Indian aesthetics in her clothes. Indian jumpsuits, modern anarkalis and couture lehengas are some of her trademark styles.

After studying business management from the prestigious University of Nottingham and fashion design from Nift, New Delhi, Ridhi joined her mother and aunt in the fashion industry. “The intention was always to join them from a business perspective. But watching my aunt and mother work — they have been in the fashion industry for eight to 10 years — I, too, got interested in the design aspect,” she says.