New Delhi, Oct 1 (PTI) There is no better creative place for a designer to be than in India, says fashion designer Kunal Rawal who believes the couturiers from the country are going to create global brands in the next decade.
Rawal is one of the most influential young designers today and has emerged as the go-to person for actors like Arjun Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan among many other Bollywood celebrities.
“I personally believe that nobody gives enough credit to Indian designers. India is such a diverse country, almost like 14-15 countries in one because every 100 kms, you will have a new language, new weather and a new aesthetic. So to understand these different markets and to cater to this diversity is super exciting but it comes with its set of challenges,” Rawal told PTI in an interview.
“Indian designers can make a far stronger product than their Western counterparts and that journey has already started with the few designers moving to the West. Indian designers are going global swiftly and steadily. In the next decade, you will have at least 10-15 Indian super brands that are going to be global of Indian origin. This process has just started,” he said.
Rawal also believes that Indian designers have a great cultural heritage and artisanal support to bank on.
“We are just super lucky to be Indian designers just because of the cultural heritage that we have. There is no better creative place for a designer to be than in India. From handwork to storytelling to stonework, I feel Indian designers have the complete package and the products by Indian designers are far more superior when it comes to quality, construction and fabric,” he said.
The designer said his aesthetic is all about telling a story through his clothes whether they are on the runway or designed specifically for a client. And he likes to give a modern spin to traditional Indian crafts.
“When I was younger, a lot of my storytelling came from this show on Doordarshan called ‘Dada Dadi Ki Kahaniyan’, I used to watch it with my sister. It used to give you small stories,” he said.
Rawal, who in the last week of July presented his collection ‘Sehra’ at the Hyundai India Couture Week in Delhi, said his collection was a tribute to such stories.
“This collection, in my own way, was about us putting out the stories that we find relevant from crafts of India… Today there is a different India from even what was there a decade earlier. I found this to be a very exciting theme to take on the cultural storytelling of our crafts and take it ahead in a way. Today the way we consume fashion and the way we consume couture is very different.” Rawal said he loves mixing traditional crafts such as patolas, ikats, brocades and bandhani on his runway designs and this “trial and error” method results in something exciting.
“We have fearlessly tried a lot with Indian textiles and Indian crafts and a lot of it has come out pretty unique and never done before.” PTI ATR BK BK
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