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Seams soulful
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There’s no fashion without soul, says Rohit Bal
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Photo: Murali Kumar K.
ideas man Rohit Bal: ‘I draw strength from my Indianness’
Rohit Bal, the pin-up boy for sassy modernity says, “There’s no fashion without soul. Fashion to me is a result of an inward search. You can’t survive for so long without tapping into your soul. It helps you cut off from the negativ
ity around. People don’t believe me when I say I am a deeply spiritual person. The spur to do a line could be anything — music, art, architecture or even furniture design, but the journey through a collection is always soulful.”
Bal confesses, “I draw strength from my Indianness. History and culture are continuing threads in my designs. And I’m saying this not because I’m a History graduate.”
Having grown up in picturesque Kashmir, the designer says he still wakes up with memories of its picture-perfect beauty.
“That’s something I can’t shake off my mind. Motifs from Kashmir’s flora, fauna and culture find a coveted place in my creations. And I’ve nurtured and tweaked them over the years.” Now that explains why Bal’s collections are as close as fashion gets to poetry. “A designer is an artist first. If you don’t have passion and respect for your craft, you’ll end up making frivolous clothes.”
Unlike some of his contemporaries, Bal has never courted Bollywood. In fact, even recently, he declined an offer to work for Madhur Bhandarkar’s “Fashion.” “From what I understood, the film revolved around the underbelly of fashiondom. I wouldn’t like to be associated with a subject like that. Besides, for me to work in a film, the budget has to be really big and I must have total creative freedom,” he chuckles.
“But I do have friends from Bollywood. And I make clothes for their personal wardrobe. Recently, I designed outfits for Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja for the IFFA Awards. And I’m now putting together a collection for Amitabh and Abhishek Bachchan for their Unforgettable Tour. I like to work with people who don’t get in the way of good design.”
It’s not easy to be on the top of today’s fashion heap unless you keep reinventing yourself. And Bal knows it. So he’s opened restaurants, endorsed accessories, promoted organic linen and khadi, and tied up with Kirtilal Kalidas to design a line of exquisite diamond jewellery.
He will soon launch cologne and diversify into home and fashion accessories. “Today, fashion encompasses lifestyle. A designer has to think of fresh creative pursuits and reinvent himself.”
T. KRITHIKA REDDY
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