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Fame rests lightly but with certainty
on Rohit Bal, whom Time magazine in
 its recent Special Report on India
(March 25, 1996) profiled as 'India's Master of fabric and fantasy.' The
regard he commands among the top echelons of Indian fashion is endorsed by a
discerning, high profile clientele, that includes some of India's biggest
names in the media, film, fashion and corporate world.
His affair with the media has been long-standing and passionate. Never, it
seems, has one man been the focus of the attentions of so many. Reams of
adulatory print continue to roll off the presses as he unveils one
collection after another, each one more fantastic than the last.
Intensely concerned with design as an art form, he draws upon history,
fantasy and folklore to create his masterpieces, which retail for up to
15,000 USD. These are gone before you know it, snapped up by the discerning
and needless to say, the wealthy. So completely does he seem to have
understood the psyche of the target consumer, that fashion pundits credit
him with setting the trend for every season. His address to the fashion
scene is intelligent and studied, yet imaginative and inspired.
Graduating from New Delhi's St. Stephen's College with a first class (Hons.)
degree in History, the compulsive designer worked for a few years with his
brother's export company. In 1990 he created his first line, traditional
designer wear for men and the rest, indeed, is history.
The 34-year-old designer's sense of aesthetics is finely honed, and each of
his creations is handcrafted to perfection, with meticulous attention to
detail. He has access to the best the industry has to offer in terms of
materials and workmanship. From villages where local craftsmen weave dreams
with magic fingers, to factories, workshops and outlets where retailers
jostle for survival, to the opulent grandeur of glitzy boutiques and malls
at the best addresses in the big cities of high fashion, Rohit Bal can lead
one to the doors of discovery, and he holds the key.
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