Kunal Rawal reveals his vision for menswear-Fashion Trends News , Firstpost

When your voice is strong, your product will work everywhere, says Rawal.

Top Notch is a bi-weekly column where journalist and editor Namrata Zakaria introduces us to the elite and up-to-date club of fashion.

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Creating high-fashion wedding outfits for men in a country obsessed with dressing up brides is a bold decision. I can’t imagine why, but the entire wedding wear market in the couture segment is called bridal wear. It’s almost as if the groom’s only job is to show up and bring home the new mistress.

Kunal Rawal has been instrumental in changing Indian men’s dress code. His focus on men’s fashion has resulted in more stylish and comfortable men, but also a new avenue for high fashion in India.

The last decade has become iconic in the way men’s clothing has changed. Fashion has always been about women’s fashion, men’s clothing is stagnant and boxed. There were menswear designers before me, of course, but I’m sure they felt very constrained. The groom must get into the cookie cutter mold: he must wear a square brocade sherwani with jewels and feathers protruding from his turban, like the Maharaja of Water India. Or else, there is a simple one kurta for other ceremonies. There was absolutely nothing in between, Rawal, 35, said. Our label principles are something I deeply feel as a consumer. I see a big gap in this market. My inspiration comes from industrial designs, which are masculine and can be used in wedding attire. The market is ready for this new aesthetic.

Shahid Kapoor in Kunal Rawal’s creation.

Rawal was quick to add that India is the most difficult market to satisfy. Every state is different and unique. Each store has its own marketplace, and online must fulfill all of the above from one place [sic]. Plus, every groom has a mother or sister or aunt, or they all decide on the outfit, he explains. I used a few cheats in embroidery and micro prints and tried to make things festive and modern. I just added a modern element to the traditional embroidery.

Rawals’ highlight, in fact, is the embroidery. I’m a texture-crazy person, he said with a laugh. I like to layer and layer clothes with more and more. I like to mix yarn with print, wash with embroidery, denim with embroidery. I like to play with things that don’t belong and make them mine.

Men will continue to wear Benarasi colors and motifs, but they usually run away from embroidery. Rawals’ propensity for threadwork is hardly a problem. The embroidery has a calm sophistication, or yarn, geometric or animal motifs that are youthful, playful and masculine. And she experimented a lot with expensive items, like the French knot she used to dress her best friend Shahid Kapoor, for Kapoor’s wedding. We aim to be a menswear mecca. So we want to give you a very detailed, but completely subdued and classic piece. Finding customers is not a problem, finding a thread that fits your mood is, he said with a smile.

Rawals’ work is unquestionably great, but his greatest glory is his stunning shop. In an age when e-commerce is on the rise and COVID-19 pandemic won’t allow us to get out of our homes, Rawal invests heavily in brick-and-mortar paradise. He soon opened his third store in Hyderabad. The former, in Mumbai and Delhi, were like amusement parks: they had ambulance racks, products fell from the ceiling like in a laundry, and some had conveyor belt racks, so the collection moves in front of you like on a runway.

Overview of Hyderabad shop.

Inside the iconic Kala Ghoda shop.

The Mumbai shop is on the top floor of the iconic Rhythm House. The circular building, which overlooks the statue of Kala Ghoda, has been home to music lovers since the vinyl generation. Rawal said he was lucky to get this space, as the label has great respect for Bombay and the city’s atmosphere.

His passion for geometric embroidery led him to find the genius architect and designer Rooshad Shroff. Shroff designs incredible furniture, chairs, lounge chairs and sofas (including sideboards for Sonam Kapoor and Anand Ahuja) with intricate French knot details.

I was very lucky to find the right collaborator at Rooshad. I’d heard Sonam sing her praises before, but actually I heard it for the first time over a French knot. Rooshad understands all my antics. We are a young and fun brand, and a lot of inspiration comes from the little kid inside of us. Rooshad makes sure all my thoughts are featured in the journey and the client experience, Rawal said.

Shroff agrees that Rawals brief him is to have a touch of military as well as technological ideas. Her clothes have a very strong point of view, and stores need to reflect that, Shroff avers.

Rawal is somewhat convinced about the importance of physical stores. Going to the store, especially in between lockdowns, is an emotional thing. Our clothes are tactile, it’s about the experience of touching them to see the quality. But I strongly believe that we need an omni-channel approach, where one approach feeds the other and helps the other, he said. When your voice is strong, your product will work everywhere.