Rohit Bal (1961-2024): A pioneer of Indian fashion

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. For those who started their fashion careers in the 1990s—a time when the industry was just starting to find its place—Rohit Bal was a guiding light. And this was borne out when almost every member of the fashion industry, from designers and stylists to photographers, models and fashion writers, had a special memory to share of working with him, soon after the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) announced the death of legendary designer on 1 November.

He was 63. Bal, or Gudda as he was fondly known, was among the most respected and loved fashion designers of India. Born in 1961 in Srinagar, he was a pioneer of the Indian fashion industry and began his journey as a designer in 1986 after graduating from Delhi University with a degree in history and then studying at Delhi’s National Institute of Fashion Technology.

I first came across the work of Rohit Bal in Mumbai in 1990 at the thenthree-year-old multi-brand store Ensemble. I was 17 and had just arrived from London, my home city. A few months earlier, my father had met Bal at a wedding, and they had hit it off immediately.

Although my father wasn’t particularly interested in fashion, he told me about this blonde-haired man with blue-green eyes who made beautiful, swirling kurtas, and suggested I see his creations on my next trip to India. Even after returning to London, I couldn't get his designs out of my mind. So, a year later, during my next trip to India, I went to Delhi to meet Bal in person.