Rohit Bal, India’s Leading Couturier, Dies at 63
Rohit Bal, often referred to as India’s top couturier, died Friday of cardiac arrest at age 63.
He was cremated on Saturday amid a large turnout by India’s fashion fraternity and a huge goodbye from celebrities and friends who shared their condolences and their memories of him.
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“He was the most popular designer in the country; love and messages are pouring in from the world,” Sunil Sethi, president of the Fashion Design Council of India, told WWD, speaking of his own relationship with the designer that spanned more than three decades. “He wasn’t willing to give up, and even though his body was exhausted, his spirit was completely engaged in living.”
Bal, who was a founding member of the FDCI, had been in fragile health for the last year, making a recovery after weeks supported by a ventilator before suffering a heart attack.
His last show on Oct. 13, the finale of the Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI at the Imperial hotel in New Delhi, was a study in elegance and style. The show itself came following a hiatus of almost five years from the runway. Much of the audience was in tears as the designer had returned from a year of speculation that his death was imminent.
“When I approached him for the show two months ago, I went with a bit of skepticism knowing that he wasn’t well and whether he would accept doing such a big show. Both Lakme and Reliance [partners with FDCI for the fashion week] were equally excited about the idea. When we went to meet him, it didn’t take him even a minute to say ‘yes.’ His only question was about the location — I had already checked the options with the Imperial hotel. Through the process in the next few months, he supervised every detail, including the music playlist for the show,” said Sethi.
“Before that, a couple of months before I was on a Hindustan Times jury, where he was awarded a legends award. The encompassing love for him was obvious. We wept, people wept. There was a very small gathering of people who knew him,” Sethi added.
Jaspreet Chandok, group vice president of Reliance Brands Ltd., who also helped plan Bal’s runway show, said: “Over the past few months, we met many times on the collection and for the finale. His ability to speak and mobility were somewhat hampered but his mind was as sharp as ever. As I walked him back to his room at the Imperial after the finale show, he was so emotional and thanked me for the moment. As friends and family teemed and fussed around him, it was my final goodbye to the prodigal prince of Indian fashion.”
That he lived on his own terms is perhaps an understatement, according to the models and industry insiders who have watched his career grow — and in the last few years be a victim of that very growth. His ability to commandeer models into his personal life, spells of inebriation, and his openly gay lifestyle were well known throughout the industry.
“In some ways that led to his own decline,” one model, who requested anonymity, observed, adding that lifestyle undermined what could have been continued growth. While many designers of his generation have been thinking legacy — going in for corporate investment, and faster retail growth — Bal never followed that path.
What does that mean for his label and his brand now?
There are more questions than answers at the moment, but as Sethi observed, Bal’s designs “have a timelessness, and longevity that has defied the decades. Some of his critics have observed in past years that there was no infusion of fresh thought and design, stuck in a time warp — while others praise the recognizable, repeat patterns. For my daughter’s wedding anniversary last week, when I asked her what she wanted, her answer was clear: a Rohit Bal piece,” said Sethi. “His appeal has crossed generations, and the fine quality of work has kept his older pieces still in the same pristine shape as the new ones.”
Bal had myriad collaborations during his career, which began in 1986 when he founded Orchid Overseas Pvt. Ltd. with his brother, Rajiv Bal. He debuted his independent collection in 1990. He is remembered for his long collaboration with the Omega group finales of many shows; a foray into the food industry with his two restaurants, Veda and Cibo, and his stand-alone retail stores in leading Indian cities. He also dressed numerous local and international celebrities, including Cindy Crawford, Pamela Anderson, Uma Thurman, Naomi Campbell, and Bollywood stars including Deepika Padukone and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, among others. Many of the country’s current top designers worked for his label in the past, including Manish Arora, Pankaj & Nidhi, and Ashish N Soni, among others.
As New York-based designer Bibhu Mohapatra said Sunday, “For me, Rohit Bal was always an enigma, a figure who was part-fantasy and part-reality. I grew up in a small town in Rourkela, Orissa; the Sunday supplement would feature him and Tarun Tahiliani and it was my first idea of what the life of a fashion designer would be. That stayed with me always — he was a visionary and set the stage for the fashion industry in India.”
Mohapatra reminisced about his first show in Mumbai in 2012: “At the end of the runway I saw someone standing beyond the crowd, waiting — that iconic face and hair! I realized that it was Rohit Bal come to show support. He said with such grace and generosity, ‘That was a beautiful display of modern fashion’. I asked, ‘Did you actually see the show?’ He said, ‘Yes, I came to see your show’ and I was able to tell him how much he had spoken to me from a distance for so many years.”
Popularly known as Gudda, accolades poured in following news of his death, with many referring to him as Time magazine did in its special report on India: “India’s master of fabric and fantasy.”
Bal’s description of his last collection, “Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe,” as a journey through the wonders of nature, celebrating the bloom of life and beauty, appears to be an apt summary of his own life. The lineup included references to the lotus and peacocks, while his larger-than-life designs, the Anarkali style that characterized him and his pride and focus on his Kashmiri heritage will continue to be reminders.
“His lotuses have bloomed everywhere,” said Sethi.
FDCI noted in its Instagram post, “Rest in peace, Gudda. You are a legend.”
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