How Success Happened
My Story
Ritu Kochhar
No one succeeds overnight.
Success is a journey.
I am the Rubik’s Cube, many colourful facets, a little bewildering and mystifying but pretty logical at the heart of it. I am rooted in the fundamentals of tasks; I can challenge the ordinary and be innovative just the same. I have an eye for detail, a great deal of creativity,I am the left and the right brain aligned. I am a new pattern everyday and I break the norm. My journey began early as I embarked on an unconventional route, beginning right from the scratch, overlooking the demographic confines of Chandigarh which was then a small city, to build a fashion and style education brand that now expands globally.
I was obsessed with design, style and fashion at an early age. Raised in a family with a rich lineage of three generations of servicemen, I was independent and self-reliant. My individuality was given room to bloom and my family encouraged my budding creativity. I drew early inspiration from observing women at events, cultural meets and weddings. Soon I began designing for my mother and her circle of friends. I was resourceful and imaginative, experimental in fusion techniques and had a big canvas to play and explore the craft in different capacities and fashion became my world.
By the age of 18, I was ready to make my mark in the fashion industry and had passion and ambition in spades. My love for the industry was the strongest incentive and motivation to keep pushing unmindful of my age.
My unbridled creative drive gave me an opportunity to emerge center stage as a designer and showcase my creativity as well as exercise my business savviness at the same time. As an entrepreneur, I started with a healthy reserve of self-belief and faith and convinced my disciplinarian father that fashion was my calling at a stage when most of my batch mates were preparing for competitive exams!
I was relentless, and worked untiringly. The first few years of INIFD being born were the ultimate boot camp that helped prepare me for life as a founder and an entrepreneur. As a teenager, it was “the dream come true. However, it was incredibly tough with grueling long hours in creating and structuring course content, defining the academics and managing the team to deliver success, and finally replicating and expanding the institute to a pan India level. For me, the learning was multi-fold, while I worked to establish a successful brand I also invested in myself academically. The experience strengthened my work ethic, and sharpened me as an innovative leader and success was sweet.
With time, the stupendous success and amazing growth brought with it a safety net of sorts that has allowed me to push the envelope to be a more extravagant and larger creative force than ever. After establishing over 100 learning centers of excellence in Fashion and Design. I have garnered invaluable experience and immense insights into style, design, and the fashion industry. Today INIFD has reached new heights in terms of scale, branding, talent, and presence globally.
For almost three decades, I have worked with the best teams of Fashion & Design educators and faculty, shaped some of the best creative talents in the country and abroad, and rubbed shoulders with the who’s who of the industry. I have gained from influencers, groomed winners at Beauty pageants, and honed the art of designers and models alike. I have been proudly representing my country at Global events like the New York Fashion Week and the London Fashion Week and worked in close collaboration with the Indian High commission, UK celebrating India Day at London Fashion Week.
My journey has shaped my personality. I am a kaleidoscope of myriad colors. I love each hue that makes me the multidimensional persona I am. I am intuitive, the vibrant red evoking energy and creativity, I am green that rejuvenates and evolves, the color yellow that glows and spreads and I am blue, calm, and serene and I am white, ready to recolor the palette again.
I have built a prolific and successful brand and evolved as a strong Fashion and Design influencer, Fashion curator, Academician, and an ardent activist for women’s emancipation. I am ready to take on more and keep my creativity flowing.