doweshowbellyad=0; Ritu Kumar (TOI Photo)Move aside Shah Rukh Khan, veteran fashion designer Ritu Kumar has also just been given the Chevalier des arts et des lettres award by the French government that was given to the Bollywood Badshah last year. Ritu has worked on fashion in France for 30 years. "But when they sent me a letter about the award, I thought it must have been some mistake," Ritu told BT.
The French government bestowed the prestigious award on Ritu in recognition of her contribution to Indian textile crafts and traditional techniques, and her interaction with the French fashion world which has kept this legacy in constant touch with the contemporary and hence alive and vibrant. Other recipients have been Dr Alka Pande, Sivaji Ganesan, Merryl Streep, Daneille Steele, Leonardo Dicaprio, Yohji Yamamoto and Anjolie Ela Menon apart from SRK.