Pioneering Indian fashion designer dies aged 63

Rohit Bal, one of India's most famous fashion designers, has died at the age of 63 after a long illness.

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) announced his death in a post on Instagram, saying his work had “redefined Indian fashion.”

As one of India's first designers in the 1990s, Bal popularized fashion design as a viable, glamorous profession and many who came after him owe their success to him.

He had to take a long break for health reasons, but celebrated an emotional comeback just a few weeks ago.

“We will always need a Rohit Bal to show what classic elegance is – and why it transcends the generation gap,” says an article in The Indian Express newspaper after Bal, frail but looking delighted, appeared with his models at the grand finale of India Fashion Week in October.

Bal's designs gained recognition for his deep understanding of Indian textiles and his meticulous attention to detail.

His innovative creations have been worn by Hollywood stars and supermodels and he has become synonymous with combining India's rich cultural heritage with a contemporary flair.

Bal was born in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir in 1961 and graduated with honors in history from St. Stephens College in Delhi. He then worked in his family's export company for a few years and learned the basics.

After completing his formal training in fashion design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi, Bal embarked on a journey that would redefine Indian fashion.

In 1990, he founded his own label and designer line and later opened several stores in India, the Middle East and Europe.

On his website, Bal described himself as a designer who “combines the right mix of history, folklore, village crafts and dying arts to create imaginative and innovative masterpieces for the runway and fashion conversation.”

In 1996, Time Magazine listed him as India's “Master of Material and Imagination”.

Bal's designs spread far and wide: Hollywood actress Uma Thurman and supermodels Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Pamela Anderson wore his creations. In 2001, tennis star Anna Kournikova walked the ramp for his Paris show.

Bal is best known for his use of lotus and peacock motifs and used fine fabrics such as velvet and brocade. His designs were elaborate and inspired by Indian splendor and royalty.

In addition to designing clothes for his own label, Bal also lent his name to advertising products ranging from shoes to linen, forged ties with textile giants like the Aditya Birla Group, and even ventured into designing jewelry and luxury watches.

He also opened a line for children and said he believes “children are an important consumer class in urban India”.

Bal made costumes for the widely watched Indian game show Kaun Banega Crorepati (“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”) and designed costumes for British Airways cabin crew.

In 2014, he introduced his first ready-to-wear line for online retailer Jabong.

“I want to separate Rohit Bal from the house of Bal – both in products and in style, in preciousness and size,” Bal told Shefalee Vasudev in Mint newspaper.

“Rohit Bal stores (there will be no prêt here) will be special. People only come to me for special things – they want clothes that are like handmade works of art. I have it in me to balance the right and left sides of my body, creative and business inclinations.”

When I met Bal in his studio years ago, his signature flamboyance was evident in dazzling neon silks embellished with intricate embroidery; Simple blouses and skirts as well as taffeta skirts and net blouses in bright, warm and cool colors.

“Fabric is the seed of designing a garment, it is the lifeblood of fashion,” he told me.

His earliest memories of fabrics were entirely sensual, he said, recalling the fuzzy feel of a jamawar shawl at home in Srinagar and the gentle warmth of his mother's shahtoosh saris.

His early years in Srinagar contributed to what he called a “blissful childhood”. The idyllic life was disrupted by violence in the region, forcing the family to relocate to Delhi, he said.

Bal recalled how he embarked on a fashion adventure at the age of 11 when he persuaded his father to go to a Delhi tailor shop to make his own tasseled cowboy pants.

Bal also expanded into the hospitality industry, designing the interiors of one of Delhi's posh restaurants, Veda, whose opulent and extravagant interiors created a stir in the Indian media.

He told me that he would also be okay if foreign brands like Armani or Hilfiger came to take up space on the shopping streets in India.

“You can’t do what I can with Indian designs,” Bal said.

His extravagant lifestyle led the Indian media to dub him “the bad boy of fashion.”

“People see me in photos surrounded by pretty models and think I'm a snobbish, low-maintenance designer who cares about beauty and hedonism. When they meet me, they will realize how wrong this perception is,” he told Vasudev.