His designs echo the golden glory of the heritage and traditions of India, but come with a whiff of modern age musings and sensibilities. His passion for Rajasthani culture and designs can’t be missed either, transporting the onlooker into the land of the maharajas and maharanis. Fashion designer Raghavendra Rathore, whose signature style includes the royal bandhgala, sherwanis and achkans, has now expanded his creative genius to include interior designing, jewellery and multi-media. Recently, he also ventured into product designing, which includes limited edition packaging for a brand of liquor. With the festive season approaching, we get Rathore to talk about his upcoming collection and festive dressing.
The man behind the bandhgala: Raghavendra Rathore. HT Photo
On his latest collection, the fashion atelier says, "My festive collection is a modern reinvention of absolute refinement of stylish dressing with a hint of playfulness. The inspiration and influence this time around comes from traditional classic silhouettes across Asia. In fact, my main inspiration personifies the revelry and exuberance of different cultures through plush overtures that also offer subtlety, comfort and functional dressing." Having used a plethora of fabrics, mostly silk blends, and varied colours to lend opulence and timeless grace to his designs, Rathore adds that he has worked on understated yet exquisite embroideries. "You will see a lot of rich brocades, silk tanchois and other silk blends that are synonymous with India. The collection this time around has quirky finishes," he says.
Elaborating on his forthcoming India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW) collection that is to be shown in Mumbai from October 15-20, 2013, Rathore says, “My collection celebrates the revelry and exuberance of the 1920s, which is an era known for unprecedented economic prosperity. The collection is subtle yet exquisite, where I have used rich embellishments in royal shades such as fuchsia, midnight blue, wine, saffron, gold and silver on fabrics like chiffons and velvets.”
{{/usCountry}}Elaborating on his forthcoming India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW) collection that is to be shown in Mumbai from October 15-20, 2013, Rathore says, “My collection celebrates the revelry and exuberance of the 1920s, which is an era known for unprecedented economic prosperity. The collection is subtle yet exquisite, where I have used rich embellishments in royal shades such as fuchsia, midnight blue, wine, saffron, gold and silver on fabrics like chiffons and velvets.”
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One of Rathore’s designs for the festive season. HT Photo
His foray into product designing also takes after his royal connection. “My product designing celebrates the magnificence of the Indian regalia and royal heritage. The limited edition packaging that I have ventured into is also inspired by my signature style of the bandhgala, and is ideal for gifting this festive season,” he says.
Currently, the designer is busy styling actors Arjun Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh and Anil Kapoor. Since he designed actor Amitabh Bachchan’s costume for popular TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 1, we ask if he would be designing for TV again. “Yes,” he says, “But, all things in bespoke. It’s too early to disclose.”