Revisiting the visionary Rohit Bal’s swansong collection Kaaynaat, his final goode to sartoria

Nov 02, 2024 04:10 PM Rohit Bal’s sudden demise a mere few weeks after what many had speculated to be his final collection, has left most gutted. Here’s to his regal swansong Rohit Bal was a visionary. Years ahead of his time. While his paradigmatic influence on the landscape of Indian fashion stands more than well acknowledged, many still don’t understand how formative his professional journey has been in elevating the showcase, interpretation and expansion of the same. While a man of his calibre never really needed a label to cement his worth, the fact that he was dubbed as India’s ‘Master of fabric and fantasy’ in 1996 Time magazine — which mind you was just 6 years into him launching his eponymous label — was proof enough of the greatness he would keep spinning with his delicate yet groundbreaking work. Legendary fashion designer Rohit Bal no more: Revisiting his swansong collection, Kaaynaat(Photo: Instagram/fdciofficial) Barely two weeks back, on October 13, Rohit made his gallant and glorious comeback on the ramp with his collection, Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe, showcased on the final day of the FDCI-hosted Lakme Fashion Week in Delhi. Already having suffered a prolonged bout of serious illness, the designer looked evidently frail but yet somehow brimming with life as he took his victory lap with showstopper Ananya Panday in tow. At the time, given his health, many had suspected that Kaaynaat may just be his final collection. Unfortunately, it was. But Rohit possibly couldn’t have crafted a stronger goode to fashion than this one. Sufi silhouettes and half-capes in velveteen textures, the unmissable romance of the red rose and hand-painted motifs from nature, stood packaged in oodles of drama and a classic, elegant flair. The entire collection just shuffled between blacks, whites and reds and yet never for a second felt repetitive as each piece truly captured the essence of the collection’s tagline, ‘a bloom in the universe’. Kaaynaat was a maximal celebration of all that Rohit Bal stood for and was applauded as such. The stalwart is no more, but his final memory in the public eye is now immortal. Him, smiling wide, standing among his creations, breaking into some joyful dance as the world applauds him and his unmatched vision. RIP Rohit Bal.