Looking back at my previous work, I am amazed at the direction and my progress. I have grown and improved over the years as a student and a designer. I think my point of view has changed each semester within each project. I used to be surprised when thinking about how much I have changed but in all honestly I haven’t changed much at all. Over the past few years, I have been able to explore and understand myself more as a person and what makes me unique. I think I have been inspired a lot by my own culture and narrative. Over the past few years, what has really happened is that I’ve begun to discover and embrace what I truly love, and now I am so much more myself. It is mainly because of this that my work has gotten stronger. I used to be shy and not confident of my work. I feel like I have increasingly stepped out of the comfort zone and tried out new things from exploring with textile, detail, different treatments and colors and different shapes. Looking back through my Learning Portfolio, I can see little details in all of my projects that are still present in my work today. Each of my projects has pieces of my current aesthetic, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally been able to pinpoint what it is, and now I can bring it all together. I think it has to do equally with maturity and being encouraged in the right way by the right people, because they really helped me to see what I had been denying all along. Although I don’t relate to my Indian heritage because of never living in India, I always have aspects that relate to it. My culture and my story is very prevalent in my designs.

My name is Ritika Ramesh. I am a BFA Fashion Design student from Chennai, South India. Although I was born there, I have never lived in India and reside in Jakarta, Indonesia. Growing up, I always loved to do different types of arts and crafts which I still enjoy exploring. I appreciate art and love to make things. I especially used to enjoy painting and sculpturing. I appreciate art and love to look at it and learn from it but I would never consider myself to be an artist. I think that I am more of a story teller. I want to tell my own story. I think because of my lost roots and heritage it contributes significantly to my designs. I don’t consider myself competent in illustration but I enjoy graphic design and exploring different features within the Adobe field.

My favorite things to make are clothes. I particularly like big feminine silhouettes, dresses and anything that reflects a urban street wear style. I love to make things by hand and always been interested in different crafts. This had led me to explore textile and playing with different fabric treatment. Last semester I was able to take it a step further and explore materiality to the extreme. I also like to incorporate these into my work. I love knitting, crocheting, beading, embroidering, smocking, fusing, dyeing, etc. I also at the same time believe in perfectionism and bespoke. Slowing fashion and looking at craftsmanship is an important part of exploring design. I believe it is important to try new things and challenge yourself. Since I was young, I enjoyed dressing up and the idea of fashion. It used to be such a heavenly thing and I can’t believe now it is at reach. Making clothes and the relation between a designer and customer is something that is unique and special. I really want to contribute to this shift. Looking at the past, history when clothing began to empower people, has reflected my own beliefs. Wearing skirts, shorts became a rebellious form of dressing for me. In a place where people dress conservative and being brought up in a traditional conservative family, I have constantly been trying to create my own style and break free from those narrow strictures. Wearing pants has made me feel good and it has now become something even women can wear. My hope for my work is that it is empowering and gives people who are rootless like me a safety blanket like they belong and their not aliens. They feel a sense of freedom and are open to expression. I try to always put emphasis to feelings and emotion and share a narrative through my design.

I best design focusing on details and fabric designing. I don’t like being subtle and minimal although recently my work has reflected that. I always enjoy exploring with detailed designs that are more pleasing to the eye. I spend a lot of time looking at different textures and nature to get inspiration for unique details. This I then interpret into my fabric manipulation exploring with different treatments and later with the overall garment shape. I am drawn to street wear and urban trends such as lace, leather, embroidery, fringe as it reflects my own heritage but at the same time is modern and a form of rebellion. I am drawn towards the idea of freedom and rebellion as I have lived in different parts of the world with rules of dress and customs. The freedom in our childhood and the constant need to fit in is something that fascinates me and I want to further explore. I gravitate towards images of people running happily through fields, melancholic emotions, and looking at some harder surfaces, nature for inspiration. I am inspired by texture and the feeling of the tangible. Rather that it been solely a tailored look with bespoke features, I enjoy playing with different materials. People’s stories and perspectives inspires me. I enjoy interviewing and listening to my friends lives and childhood to inspire my designs. They each in one way or another represent freedom, celebrating innocence. I want to use this ideas to create a more feminine, heritage inspired collection that plays with few colors but more with surfaces and texture. The person I am designing for is a free thinking women who is empowering, working woman who likes to live life to the fullest. They are free to do what they want, and associate with wherever they feel like.

I always end up researching topics that reflect my aesthetic and my culture. I especially find comfort and learn new things from my own history and heritage. Living in different countries with different people, cultures, religions, beliefs, it has given me a new perspective into viewing the world I love learning about people and their stories.

I want to continue designing and making clothes. I want to feel good about the clothes I design. They should reflect my aesthetic but also serve as a contemporary and modern working woman. I want to continue focusing on different fabrics and using treatments in unique way in my designs.