Rohit Bal, India’s ace fashion designer and a founding member of the prestigious Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), passed away on November 1 at the age of 63. The news of his demise was confirmed by FDCI Chairman Sethi, who told The Indian Express that Bal was rushed to the hospital but did not make it. Rohit Bal had close relationships with several Bollywood celebrities and recently Ananya Panday became a showstopper for his new collection Kaaynaat at the Lakme Fashion Week.
Ananya posted a picture with Rohit Bal from the Lakme Fashion Week on her Instagram story and wrote, “Gudda Om Shanti.”
In an earlier 2011 interview with The Voice Of Fashion, Bal talked about the restrictions he had to face in India as a fashion designer. He shared, “Only I know how I got permissions for my show at Qutub Minar, (‘Gulbagh’, for the finale of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015 at Quli Khan’s tomb near Qutub Minar). All the applications I had to write, I would never do it again.”
He added, “Indians couldn’t care less about fashion. The Indian government or the bureaucrats have never done anything for fashion. By and large there is 0.1 per cent of population which is interested and who buy. But I am talking about India as a country. They care about Bollywood and cricket. Even in terms of business, the ratio between fashion and exports is 1:10. It is really sad.”
In 1996, he got the tag of ‘India’s Master Of Fabric and Fantasy’ by Time Magazine. He was given ‘Designer of the Year’ award at the Indian Fashion Awards in 2006. Later, in 2012, he was felicitated with Lakme Grand Finale Designer. The ace designer then went on to win ‘Iconic Fashion Designer of the country’ by the jury of the Rajnigandha Pearls India Fashion Awards in 2020.
