Meet Rohit Bal, the big showman of Indian fashion

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When fashion writer Meher Castelino first met designer Rohit Bal in 1989, one of the questions she asked was, “Are you an Indian?" They were meeting on a day that marked many firsts: A young multi-designer store Ensemble was hosting its first fashion show in Mumbai, and Bal, then in his 20s, was presenting a debut collection, featuring light-coloured, ready-to-wear men’s kurtas.

A blonde-haired Bal hesitantly replied, with a twinkle in his green-blue eyes: “I’m an Indian; my clothes celebrate India." That’s a theme that continued to run through his subsequent creations—whether it was the menswear line that launched his eponymous label towards the end of 1989; the womenswear collection the next year; the Zippo lighters etched with lotus flowers and leaves in 2013; or the last womenswear collection he presented in 2019, just before covid hit. Even his first post-pandemic show, Kaaynaat: A Bloom In The Universe, which closed the Lakmē Fashion Week x FDCI (Fashion Design Council of India) on 13 October in Delhi, was dipped in Indianness.

While the flowing mulmul gowns embellished with matching ivory-coloured embroidery showed his classic work of marrying traditional with contemporary, the prancing deers in structured bandghalas reiterated his love for nature. Rohit Bal was celebrating Rohit Bal, while ’80s and ’90s pop music played in the background.

“It’s a love letter to my country’s opulence and diversity," Bal, 63, tells Lounge about his design philosophy. “The fusion of traditional and contemporary elements allows me to create garments that tell a story, bridging the past with the present." His work also tells a story of the enduring love for, and influence of, Kashmir, where he grew