The grand master of the craft
Shashi Sunny
What’s more difficult — to gain success or sustain it over the years, over 25 years to be precise? For Rohit Bal, the beginning is the real challenge and if that is made the right way, success will follow. The fashion designer says, “The most challenging task when I started out in the early 1980s was to create an Indian designer label, to create clothes that sold by the name of the person who created that outfit. The concept didn’t exist in India then and fashion designing was not a profession. There was no glamour, money or fame attached to it.” A handful of designers like Suneet Varma, JJ Valaya, Ritu Kumar and Bal himself got the ball rolling. Eventually, people recognised their craft and the Indian fashion industry came into being. In retrospective mode, Rohit talks about the initial struggle and how the fashion industry has evolved in the last two decades.
Q. What is indispensable to succeed in the fashion industry?
Rohit Bal: Talent alone is certainly not enough. It is important but it is the whole package that takes you places. Equally important is how you market that talent. You have to have a charisma that will set you apart. You have to talk well and present yourself in the right manner. The one who inspired me was Rohit Khosla. He had all the qualities and was single-handedly responsible for creating the Indian fashion industry.
Q: How would you define your personal style?
RB: Simple, classic and very individualistic. If I could, I would restrict my fabric to Mulmul and Khadi and my colour palette would only be ivory or ecru. I would not use any colour. But my collections are different. In these, you spot extravagance and opulence. There are different sides to me and contrasts like drama and simplicity, opulence and minimalism all combine to make me what I am.
Q: You have done ample shows in all these years. How do you feel at the end of a show?
RB: Every show comes with great challenges and a huge amount of hard work goes behind making creations. The audience only gets to see the glamour part of it, but every show has at least six months of painstaking labour behind it. I have got a standing ovation many a time; there is a sense of exhilaration and relief after each show. I hope I never take things for granted.
Q: What is the overriding emotion that engulfs when you look back?
RB: One of wonder. I wonder where did all the time go? Where did it fly? That’s what I look back at and wonder. It’s been such a great journey and one that just swept by so swiftly.
Q: Do you have any regrets or is there anything you would do differently if given a second chance?
RB: Every moment of my life has been incredible. I just wish I was a better businessman, a better entrepreneur. But then creativity and business seldom go together.
Q: What has been your most memorable moment?
RB: I can’t forget the times when people started recognising me for my work. People walked up to me asking for autographs and photographs. I was over-whelmed by the amount of love and appreciation people had for me. All the attention was heady and it felt nice then, not anymore. Now, I wish for a more private life.
Q: What lessons have you learnt from this journey?
RB: I have learnt a lot on the personal and professional front. The most important being —the world is not such a nice place as I expected it to be and at times it is more beautiful than I expect it to be.
