Rohit Bal is no more. He died of cardiac arrest on Friday. He was 63.
Bal, fondly ‘Gudda’ to his loved ones. Not just a fashion designer but had been the trend setter in couture ever since India lost one and only, the Rohit Khosla, who is referred as the father of fashion designing in India. Rohit Khosla had set the trends much ahead of the 90’s when young group of fashion designers had cropped in and one of them was Gudda.
Along with his collogues in the fraternity – Suneet Varma, JJ Valya, Tarun Tahiliani, Manoviraj Khosla, Abu Jani, Ritu Beri, Reena Dhata, the Ritu to name a few, had made their mark felt in the clothes industry. They brought a change in how things were in the tailoring and how one wanted to look. From ethnics to western, things totally changed. Many young people were inspired by these fashion people.
Gudda with his long locks, cat eyes and completely western looks, played a pivotal role not just in inspiring young boys and girls to take to fashion but also turn towards fashion modelling predominantly, ramps, a rare concept till then.
Bal, born in Srinagar, started his career in fashion in 1986 and rose to become one of the biggest names in the Indian fashion industry. He won ‘Designer of the Year’ at the Indian Fashion Awards in 2006, and the Kingfisher Fashion Achievement Awards in 2001. He was also named the Lakme Grand Finale Designer in 2012.
His initial days in fashion was no different from others as then the world of clothes revolved around tailors, his ensembles (labels), had taken the racks at boutiques, mostly in those days Delhi’s fashion circle was constituted to Hauz Khas village, also known as ’boutique basti’. Later, he opened numerous outlets and sold his clothes across boutiques and stores including Shapur Jat, South Extension, Defence Colony etc. His factory was in Noida.
Bal lived a colourful life, his evenings would be spent with friends mostly at some pubs or cafe in the posh South Delhi. His parties were very special as he was a good host. His guests were anybody and everybody from entertainment world to media and designers to political fraternity.
Rohit Bal went very early, he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), before his last show in October. He was discharged and then admitted to the Aashlok Hospital in Delhi on Wednesday, where he breathed his last on Friday.
