After designing exclusively for men for several years, Raghavendra Rathore is back with bandhgalas for women. He tells D Kaushik that a clear vision and strong story behind every collection help him carve a niche
Many think him to be a recluse, a rare one from the fashion fraternity who prefers to stay away from parties. But the truth, we discovered, is that Raghavendra Rathore is a man of few, wise words. We met the designer while he was busy in his studio, shooting for a forthcoming TV series. The latest from the designer’s label is his women’s wear collection, something that he got back to after several years of doing menswear. “It is a big shift for the company. We have been dressing men and all the wives were complaining so we have started designing bandhgalas for women. The response has been fantastic and the good thing is we don’t have to worry about fashion trends. We only do bandhgala jacket and breeches for women, with little variations. But they are all custom-made. We do show it on a runway but do not hang it in the stores. I realised that communication of women wear is far superior in terms of reach. We have got enquiries from Dhaka, Dubai. We have got certain amount of bridal share of market but mostly for weddings that are taking place in Thailand and Monaco, so it’s not traditional wedding line. We are not catering for the masses, we have created a trend but we are not following it. We are producing bandhgalas and breeches we are famous for and that makes for a good business model for the company. I just brief my designers to reinvent. We are now focussing on offering more lifestyle choices to the customers, like high-end buttons, jewellery for men,” he said.
Not many would know that Raghavendra has been trained in designing women wear and designed only women for a long time. It was only in the early 90s that he decided to do menswear. “There was too much of clutter in women’s wear so we moved to menswear. I remember for my first collection I chose Mehar Bhasin and dressed her in bandhgala and breeches. That was the first time people saw a woman in a bandhgala on the runway and there was silence for over 10 minutes and then someone said, ‘Is that a bandhgalaIJ’ It is good that now designers, young students are completely aware of this terminology. In the next five to 10 years it will be the most worn outfit. Bandhgala is one of the most versatile idea out of India. Tea and bandhgalas from India have global acceptance,” shared the designer and added that menswear fashion scene is still evolving and very few people know it is a bigger market, “people are so lost in fashion shows and business that they forget that menswear is the bigger market. We should talk to more young designers and motivate them to pursue menswear.”
Rathore was born and raised in Jodhpur and is a member of the royal clan of Jodhpur. After graduating from Parsons, Rathore went to work for Donna Karan as an assistant designer for DKNY. He then worked at the high design atelier of Oscar de la Renta. After he returned to India in 1994, he started his own brand Rathore Jodhpur. He always chose to stick to his traditions and promote the culture of Rajasthan through his designs. “While I was thinking of returning from New York I asked myself what is it that I cannot do in New York and I can do in India. I was told by a gentleman there that you will get lost there as there are lehenga wallas, lehenga wallas and more lehenga wallas. So I came with that caution and set a vision for myself. I don’t believe that any product without a vision can do well. So I created a story for my collection and luckily I had a story in the backyard of my own home, where I grew up. So I just interplugged that into what I was doing and it started working. You have to convert the values and history into a product and it works,” said the designer.