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Rohit Bal (1961-2024): A pioneer of Indian fashion
Summary
Fashion designer Rohit Bal, who died on 1 November at the age of 63, brought both fantasy and showmanship to Indian couture
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.
Also read: Rohit Bal, the big showman of Indian fashion
I first came across the work of Rohit Bal in Mumbai in 1990 at the then three-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. I still vividly remember the way he combined rani pink with bright orange, using delicate Kashmiri embroidery. His work, inherently Indian but also modern, always told a story of his enduring love for Kashmir, where he grew up in a Kashmiri Pandit household, surrounded by traditional craft and nature, all of which have influenced his design vocabulary.
Bal had asked me what I wanted to do, and I had said I was interested in political journalism or possibly working as a lobbyist in British politics. He replied, “You have such a love for India and of Indian fashion. I think you’re going to do something here." Perhaps it was Bal who first planted the idea in my mind, and four years later, I was in India, working as a business journalist.
Bal and I stayed in touch, and he invited me to his shows. At the time, I knew little about Indian textiles or fashion history. I just knew his clothes were magical and museum-worthy, and I wanted to know more.
His prediction turned out to be true, and I eventually became a fashion journalist.
Bal’s shows became the highlight of the Indian fashion calendar, even before the first edition of Lakme India Fashion Week (as it was called over two decades ago). His shows were the most coveted ticket in town—they were inventive and imaginative, featuring men in ghaghra skirts adorned with sindoor and supermodels in ivory kurtas in pools of water like lilies. A 2000s show set against Delhi's Qutub Minar with Shubha Mudgal’s soulful voice in the background brought a sense of spectacle to Indian fashion that had never been seen before. Bal not only brought fantasy to Indian fashion, but also showmanship. He pushed the boundaries and reimagined Indian textiles and embroideries.
He was the life of any party, and one of my favourite memories of him was during the launch of Harper’s Bazaar magazine in India in 2009, of which I was the editor then. In one of the first shoots, Bal insisted on bringing his own style to the mix, being photographed at a restaurant he part-owned. He wanted to create an image inspired by the Joker. Shot by Tarun Vishwa, it became a standout image, one that was picked up by bloggers across the country. It is not be an exaggeration to say that his death marks the end of an era. He nurtured designers such as Manish Arora, Ashish Soni, and Pankaj and Nidhi. Celebrated supermodels such as Arjun Rampal began their careers with him.
One of my greatest regrets as a fashion journalist is missing his recent, and last show, at the Lakme Fashion Week on 13 October in Delhi. Despite being unwell, he danced down the stage in a way only Gudda could. He will indeed remain one of the brightest stars Indian fashion has ever seen.
