Rohit Bal at his Defence Colony store in New Delhi. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint
The bold & brazen, the frank & honest, the king of haute couture, the bad boy of the fashion world, the master of fabric & fantasy and of course controversy is his middle name. The number of epithets used for him is endless. He is none other than Rohit Bal a fashion designer par excellence from the heavenly place Kashmir. Right from his heydays his mantra was style. And right from day one in the fashion world he is known more for his sophisticated cuts and breathing fabrics. Shaheen Raaj recently played a little telephonic game with him called the A – Z of fashion. Tune in with your fabrics & scissors.
Accessories: There are no hard & fast rules but I like to use women’s jewellery on men & men’s accessories on women. In fact I am always experimenting with my brand of designer clothes line. Besides I was also the brand ambassador for Omega watches. Who says that designers cannot model for products?
Bangalore: This city is like my second home because I have many friends here and the best of them is Prasad Bidappa. A common line of conversational greeting between us is ‘Hi fashion guru Prasad Bidappa!’ to which he replies ‘Welcome Mr. Rohit Bal, the king of fashion!’ The people out here are very warm hearted, loving, caring & sweet. It has always been my dream to have my own boutique here for my special Rohit Bal clothes line and branded collection.
Colors: My choice of colors for my collections is mostly restricted to subtle colors like pastels and others reflecting earthy tones to dress up my men & women.
Designers: My personal favorite of course is Prasad Biddappa who had made Bangalore a more prominent fashion city on the global map with his annual 5 days show of exclusive Men’s Fashion Fair. It’s most unfortunate that it is no more now instead there is the on – going Bangalore Fashion week which culminates in a 4 day extravaganza.
Ethnic: This kind of dresses may be the latest flavor of the season but I also like to design traditional, modern & contemporary clothes. But my personal favorites are the clothes made of handloom & khaki fabrics.
Fashion: It is the order of the day from day – to – day changing trends. So no future forecasts or any predictions can be made in this regard. And please don’t ask me about Madhur Bhandarkar’s ex – film Fashion as I don’t want to make any comments about it. Suffice it to say that I saw the movie & I enjoyed it.
Gay: They are not made in heaven and they are not born to be gays. But when they grow up circumstances make them so. So what if most of the male models & designers are tagged with the label of gays? Even I am open about my sexual preferences. There is an abundance of gays in all walks of life then why blame only the fashion world. May be because there is an overdose of hunky beefcakes here enough to build a harem like the Nawabs & Kings of olden times.
Imagine: The world without fashion scenario, designers & models especially the male hunks.
James Bond: No matter which actor plays the role but his character is always the perfectly dressed man with style, finesse & panache.
Kings of Fashion: At present Amitabh Bachchan in Bollywood, Brad Pitt & Justin Timberlake in Hollywwod & my all time favorite Milind Soman in the fashion world.
Lobbying in fashion world: Naturally because there is a cut throat competition in the fashion world too.
Male casting couch: No it’s not a myth it really exists as in every profession.
Nudity: Yes! It is slowly making inroads in the fashion arena too via calendar shoots including semi nudity on the ramps.
Oomph factor: Without this, the fashion industry is meaningless especially in terms of female models.
Parties: They are the life & soul of the fashion world. It gives more prominence to celebrities, fashioniastas, Pg 3 people in the fashion world. And then when people get tipsy out here it’s bound to give rise to controversies galore.
Queens of fashion: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Bollywood and in Hollywood & overseas fashion world I would like to list all my clienteles like Uma Thurman, Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Naomi Campbell & Anna Kournikova.
Ramp Walking: Every young men & women wants to walk the ramp but it’s not so easy. It requires a lot of training, hard work & destiny to make it to the ramps.
Styles: It also changes with every moment of the day with the designer’s imagination, innovation & creativity.
Top most male & female models: Oh! There are lots & lots of them but my personal favorites are Jackie Shetty, Pashmina Barker, Roshan Isaac, Aryan Vaid, Prasanna, Muzzammil Ibrahim, Jatin Grewal et al. I tell you the list is endless. In the initial stages there were just a handful of them whom you could count on your fingertips.
Unisex fashion: it’s not a new trend it has been there since ages and only now it is gaining more & more prominence. So I think it’s good for a change.
Vogue: With this word I can think only of Vogue fashion institute & Vogue the fashion magazine.
Watch dogs of fashion: The other word for moral policing which of late has been more & more in the news for obvious reasons.
X factor of fashion: it could be anything related to fashion.
Yacht: I would like to own a big one of my own & hold a grand & unique fashion show on it of my own latest & branded designer collections.
Zzzzzzz: You decide on your own I am absolutely clueless about this word unless you consider Zodiac sign of mine and Zodiac as a brand name which is also very popular on its own.
