KOLKATA, Aug 20:
Despite his views that Bollywood largely determines the fashion habit of the people of this country and not designers, famed sartorialist Rohit Bal doesn’t want to turn his gaze on fashion whenever he takes up film direction in future.
“Whatever Bollywood does, fashion follows, in a country like India. Accepting the simple fact that Bollywood thus determines the fashion trend in our country and dictates the sense of style of the common man, it is not the designer’s work which the people look upto,” Bal told.
Bal, who would love to direct a film some day, will not however spell out his views on wardrobe and fashions in the venture and would rather choose some non-fashion matters as possible subject of the film.
“Let the task of making fashion statement in films be left to personalities like Madhur Bhandarkar. I don’t want to comment on it in my film, which will deal with a serious issue. You could term it as my Taj Mahal in terms of universal appeal,” said Bal.
He was in the city recently to inaugurate Veda, an extension of his restaurant chain and Bal termed his foray into the gastronomers’ domain as an extension of his designer self. Describing the decor, Bal said, “I have sought to dwell on history, fantasy and folklore to bring alive the Mughal era architecture.”
Affirming his belief that inviting Bollywood celebrities to walk his ramp would only overshadow the very work of the designer, Bal, a known name in fashion events at New York, Paris and Singapore, said, “I would love to highlight my work only”.
The 51-year-old designer, who wishes to begin a very large carpet project having worldwide presence, said it will be launched in September this year.
“For Kolkata, which boasts off very passionate people with simple habits and unpretentiousness, I have plans to open an exclusive Rohit Bal outlet from where people can buy fashion merchandise,” he said.
Also in the pipeline is a fashion workshop somewhere in the city which will employ local artisans otherwise forced to travel to Mumbai and Delhi and unable to save much of their earnings. The workshop will be happening by this year itself.
“I wish to begin both ventures by the end of this year. Any fashion designer from the city can join the workshop,” Bal said suggesting this will help the local fashion industry to outsource products.
Bal, who is also tying up with a jewellery brand to design some ethnic and trendy pieces, said upcoming Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor and “good friend” Arjun Rampal, are the most impeccably dressed ones in showbiz.
“And if you talk about heroines hailing from Bengal, there is one person, Konkona Sensharma, who I would love to dress up because of her elegance and poise,” said Bal. (PTI)
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