As Executive Editor at Images Business of Fashion, Richa was instrumental in inducing the industry to think and take up fashion forecasts with a keen eye on Indian seasons and aesthetics instead of blindly following forecasts from European or American forecast agencies.
Richa is the first person to conceptualise and direct an India-centric glocal forecast for the industry. She can take credit for being among the handful, if not the only person who pushed for Indian seasons instead of Fall-Winter. It will be a while yet before the industry realises that India really does not have a Fall!
The continued push to the industry through a sustained series of articles and interviews had brands and designers eyeing the monsoons with a very different mind set. Where monsoon was always a lean period on the retail front, some brands and designers now come up with special collections.
Fashion from Bollywood or the Indian film industry was long forgotten as the trendsetter when it came to influencing the masses and the classes alike. Again a series of write-ups later major department store Shoppers Stop tied up with a whole lot of films and stars and once again the trend began. So much so that a store each in Dubai and Mumbai came up dedicated to filmy fashion and accessories.
Was among the first few to identify the coming up of fashion knowledge outsourcing centres with India emerging as a major hub.
Launched the Indian edition of the iconic Sportswear International. This quarterly publication was the first of its kind to cater to the B2B market but with a B2C twist. Almost 80 per cent of content was generated in-house.
Coined the term Indutvas for apparel of Indian origin instead of ethnicwear. Again, this has not yet gained currency.
Anchored the IMAGES Year Book Business of FashionVolume III (released by Union textile minister Shankarsinh Vaghela in January 2006) and Volume V (2009). Both were roaring hits in industry circles and beyond.
Anchored the first ever coffee table book for the shoes and accessories industry (2014). Again, a roaring hit with the industry.
Anchored the proceedings at the third edition of the India Shoes & Accessories Forum in Mumbai in January 2014 which saw the who's who of the industry participate in the extensive live talk shows.
Invited as jury member for graduating students by fashion institutes like NIFT, Pearl Academy of Fashion, Wigan & Leigh, Satyam Fashion Institute, etc; invited to speak at seminars and sessions on business of fashion.
Way back when Richa was with the Press Trust of India where she began her career, a story by her was the first in the country to talk about how modelling was no more being looked down upon as a career choice.
