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Rohit Bal a tete a tete

Bhavya Misra
Bhavya Misra

Rohit Bal is an Indian fashion designer known for blending traditional Indian styles with modern aesthetics. He plans to expand into bags and footwear, aiming to have 250 stores selling his clothing, bags, and shoes in 40 cities by 2020. Currently, he feels the Indian fashion industry is still small and struggles due to high taxes and retail costs, and hopes the government will do more to support domestic fashion.

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footnote Rohit Bal Here Comes the Hotstepper He has always delved deep into heritage to come up with designs rooted in the past yet aligned to the present. And so when he says that the essence of Indian dressing rests in traditional styles as visible in the heartlands of rural India, it is no surprise. This Master of Fabric and Fantasy is working to introduce a line of bags, and a collection of shoes is on the anvil. He talks to S&A about what the fashion industry is crying for and of course allows a peek into his personal style of dressing. My Plans for Indian Fashion Footwear Fundas My plans are to start doing bags and footwear. I am not much into Indian footwear brands. I personally In fact, we are already in the process of crafting a do not like them much. However, I buy a lot of beachwear collection of bags with my friends, who are selling at from the flea markets of Goa. For me wearing sandals, my stores. I'd like to do more bags and some shoes chappals and beachwear is wonderful. I also like from Italy. kolhapuri chappals and buy them from Delhi's Janpath market. I love wearing juttis and buy them from all over My Targets By 2020 Rajasthan and Gujarat. I'd like to be selling in about 40 different cities. I'd like to own about 250 stores. And I'd like to have the My Casual Daywear common man wearing my clothes, bags and shoes. I mostly wear Tod's, and also moccasins or loafers. My Style For Formal Occasions Style is forever. It is a very strong sense of individuality I like to wear black shoes or very dark brown shoes for which expresses itself in almost everything that you do. formal occasions . The black shoes I usually sport are in It is an inherent part of you, irreplaceable and forever. the category of what you would call formal tie-ups and these could be brands like Corneliani. I also like shoes If I Could Change Some Things in from Gucci. And then there are exquisite black shoes the Fashion Business from Tom Ford. The taxation system is extremely difficult to work with. It's not the amount of money that Accessories My Style you're investing, it's the process which is very I don't really accessorise myself much. I am not into cumbersome. I hope the government realises that jewellery. Apart from watches and shoes, the only the fashion industry is not making money and that other accessory that I wear is a scarf. When it comes to it (government) is making it almost imposssible for wristwear, Breitling and some watches by Omega and Tag us to exist. The second thing I would like to change, Heuer make the cut. If you would like to go over the top is the retail spaces which are extremely expensive. then I like Franck Muller. The scarves could be by any The government should start supporting the fashion Indian textile company or they could be Hermes. industry. Other countries have done it everywhere but India has a government which has not really Wallet Lover backed Indian fashion. Thirdly, the government needs I don't use wallets. I don't carry any cash. I only carry to subsidise the fashion industry it needs to be credit cards which I like to keep in my money book by sponsored, needs to be looked after and nurtured Louis Vuitton. by the ministry of textiles. And it need not be on an individual level, it could be on a mass level where Pocket Fundas My Accessory Expense there could be revival of khadi and other textiles of I spend lots and lots of money on shoes as that's the only Indian origin. accessory that I buy. 100 SHOES & ACCESSORIES / july 2012
Shopping Hubs accessory which looks pretty is the paraandi. Within the country, I like to shop at some of For men, it could be minakaari or enamel- the designer stores, at the DLF Emporio in work cufflinks and brooches. Delhi, at Diesel and I also love Zara and Paul Smith. I think one can wear Zara everyday. Celebrities I Love Working With Then there are some designers like Rajesh That would be definitely Arjun Rampal. Pratap Singh (if his clothes fit me, because Everything that one does looks amazing on normally they are a little big!) from whom him. I just did his couture for the 65th Cannes I like to buy. The other one is Abraham & Film Festival. He looked spectacular. He has Thakore who also make some of the most been on my ramp show for so many times and beautiful clothes. Outside India, Milan is my each time I think it has to be Arjun Rampal. favourite shopping destination. And of course the flea markets. They are all over Europe. Celebrities I'd Like to Dress Up It would be Johnny Depp and Ashton Kutcher Eyewear Fundas among the male stars. Among the women, it I wear only Rayban. I am an out-and-out a has to be Jennifer Aniston. Rayban person. They are the nicest and they make everyone look nice. Three Indian Footwear Designers I have Worn My Fave Wardrobe Piece I have worn Rajesh Pratap Singh sandals and It is perhaps the first Breitling watch that that is it. I bought in 1982 or 1983. I cherish it a lot because it was bought with a lot of love. It was If I Could Change Three very expensive and I didn't have that kind of Things in India money, but I saved and saved and bought it. I would ban all synthetic fabrics. I would ban polyester and nylon because they are not meant Footwear Now and Then for the Indian climate, and besides they are The change in Indian footwear fashion has not good to look at. I would want everyone been immense since the time I launched. We to wear pure khadi, organic cotton, muslin, have progressed from an almost non-existent linen. Second thing I would like to change is shoe society to a society obsessed with shoes. pretentious urban dressing. I think the pure We have gone from non-availability to an beauty of clothing and accessorisation lies in overkill, not only in terms of the international the authenticity of our rural India. If everyone brands which have come into the country but dresses like the rural Indians, we would be the also domestic brands which have been laying best dressed nation in the world. We have tried emphasis on shoes as a category and have to imbibe this hideous modern, western culture positioned it as the most important single and we are trying to destroy the beauty of Indian accessory for both men and women. rural costumes. I'd like to definitely change that. The third thing I'd like to change is the general Indian Footwear My Colour Indian attitude. The attitude of the basic Indian I can't pinpoint one particular colour because person is not inclined towards fashion. Even if our country is all colour. There is no specific it is inclined, it is either too much or too less. colour that I would like to mention because I I'd like to bring in a balance and tell people Be can envision almost every colour and shade in Indian. Being Indian is beautiful. Indian footwear. But typically, shoes in gold and silver have always been popular. Besides, Indian Designerwear Today champagne is a colour which I also think is I would sum it up as a cottage industry. It has very popular. not grown beyond that. Indian Accessory My Design Indian Designerwear by 2020 The accessories available today are not up To be honest, I dont know. But I am to the mark. The only thing that I would hoping, on a global scale, that Indian fashion recommend is traditional Indian jewellery, be could become a big global brand and also it for men or women. For women, I'd like to definitely become more organised. Finally, recommend some beautiful head ornaments I'd hope that the Indian fashion industry which are not worn anymore. Another makes some money. As told to Bhavya Misra july 2012 / SHOES & ACCESSORIES 101

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Rohit Bal a tete a tete

  • 1. footnote Rohit Bal Here Comes the Hotstepper He has always delved deep into heritage to come up with designs rooted in the past yet aligned to the present. And so when he says that the essence of Indian dressing rests in traditional styles as visible in the heartlands of rural India, it is no surprise. This Master of Fabric and Fantasy is working to introduce a line of bags, and a collection of shoes is on the anvil. He talks to S&A about what the fashion industry is crying for and of course allows a peek into his personal style of dressing. My Plans for Indian Fashion Footwear Fundas My plans are to start doing bags and footwear. I am not much into Indian footwear brands. I personally In fact, we are already in the process of crafting a do not like them much. However, I buy a lot of beachwear collection of bags with my friends, who are selling at from the flea markets of Goa. For me wearing sandals, my stores. I'd like to do more bags and some shoes chappals and beachwear is wonderful. I also like from Italy. kolhapuri chappals and buy them from Delhi's Janpath market. I love wearing juttis and buy them from all over My Targets By 2020 Rajasthan and Gujarat. I'd like to be selling in about 40 different cities. I'd like to own about 250 stores. And I'd like to have the My Casual Daywear common man wearing my clothes, bags and shoes. I mostly wear Tod's, and also moccasins or loafers. My Style For Formal Occasions Style is forever. It is a very strong sense of individuality I like to wear black shoes or very dark brown shoes for which expresses itself in almost everything that you do. formal occasions . The black shoes I usually sport are in It is an inherent part of you, irreplaceable and forever. the category of what you would call formal tie-ups and these could be brands like Corneliani. I also like shoes If I Could Change Some Things in from Gucci. And then there are exquisite black shoes the Fashion Business from Tom Ford. The taxation system is extremely difficult to work with. It's not the amount of money that Accessories My Style you're investing, it's the process which is very I don't really accessorise myself much. I am not into cumbersome. I hope the government realises that jewellery. Apart from watches and shoes, the only the fashion industry is not making money and that other accessory that I wear is a scarf. When it comes to it (government) is making it almost imposssible for wristwear, Breitling and some watches by Omega and Tag us to exist. The second thing I would like to change, Heuer make the cut. If you would like to go over the top is the retail spaces which are extremely expensive. then I like Franck Muller. The scarves could be by any The government should start supporting the fashion Indian textile company or they could be Hermes. industry. Other countries have done it everywhere but India has a government which has not really Wallet Lover backed Indian fashion. Thirdly, the government needs I don't use wallets. I don't carry any cash. I only carry to subsidise the fashion industry it needs to be credit cards which I like to keep in my money book by sponsored, needs to be looked after and nurtured Louis Vuitton. by the ministry of textiles. And it need not be on an individual level, it could be on a mass level where Pocket Fundas My Accessory Expense there could be revival of khadi and other textiles of I spend lots and lots of money on shoes as that's the only Indian origin. accessory that I buy. 100 SHOES & ACCESSORIES / july 2012
  • 2. Shopping Hubs accessory which looks pretty is the paraandi. Within the country, I like to shop at some of For men, it could be minakaari or enamel- the designer stores, at the DLF Emporio in work cufflinks and brooches. Delhi, at Diesel and I also love Zara and Paul Smith. I think one can wear Zara everyday. Celebrities I Love Working With Then there are some designers like Rajesh That would be definitely Arjun Rampal. Pratap Singh (if his clothes fit me, because Everything that one does looks amazing on normally they are a little big!) from whom him. I just did his couture for the 65th Cannes I like to buy. The other one is Abraham & Film Festival. He looked spectacular. He has Thakore who also make some of the most been on my ramp show for so many times and beautiful clothes. Outside India, Milan is my each time I think it has to be Arjun Rampal. favourite shopping destination. And of course the flea markets. They are all over Europe. Celebrities I'd Like to Dress Up It would be Johnny Depp and Ashton Kutcher Eyewear Fundas among the male stars. Among the women, it I wear only Rayban. I am an out-and-out a has to be Jennifer Aniston. Rayban person. They are the nicest and they make everyone look nice. Three Indian Footwear Designers I have Worn My Fave Wardrobe Piece I have worn Rajesh Pratap Singh sandals and It is perhaps the first Breitling watch that that is it. I bought in 1982 or 1983. I cherish it a lot because it was bought with a lot of love. It was If I Could Change Three very expensive and I didn't have that kind of Things in India money, but I saved and saved and bought it. I would ban all synthetic fabrics. I would ban polyester and nylon because they are not meant Footwear Now and Then for the Indian climate, and besides they are The change in Indian footwear fashion has not good to look at. I would want everyone been immense since the time I launched. We to wear pure khadi, organic cotton, muslin, have progressed from an almost non-existent linen. Second thing I would like to change is shoe society to a society obsessed with shoes. pretentious urban dressing. I think the pure We have gone from non-availability to an beauty of clothing and accessorisation lies in overkill, not only in terms of the international the authenticity of our rural India. If everyone brands which have come into the country but dresses like the rural Indians, we would be the also domestic brands which have been laying best dressed nation in the world. We have tried emphasis on shoes as a category and have to imbibe this hideous modern, western culture positioned it as the most important single and we are trying to destroy the beauty of Indian accessory for both men and women. rural costumes. I'd like to definitely change that. The third thing I'd like to change is the general Indian Footwear My Colour Indian attitude. The attitude of the basic Indian I can't pinpoint one particular colour because person is not inclined towards fashion. Even if our country is all colour. There is no specific it is inclined, it is either too much or too less. colour that I would like to mention because I I'd like to bring in a balance and tell people Be can envision almost every colour and shade in Indian. Being Indian is beautiful. Indian footwear. But typically, shoes in gold and silver have always been popular. Besides, Indian Designerwear Today champagne is a colour which I also think is I would sum it up as a cottage industry. It has very popular. not grown beyond that. Indian Accessory My Design Indian Designerwear by 2020 The accessories available today are not up To be honest, I dont know. But I am to the mark. The only thing that I would hoping, on a global scale, that Indian fashion recommend is traditional Indian jewellery, be could become a big global brand and also it for men or women. For women, I'd like to definitely become more organised. Finally, recommend some beautiful head ornaments I'd hope that the Indian fashion industry which are not worn anymore. Another makes some money. As told to Bhavya Misra july 2012 / SHOES & ACCESSORIES 101