Rohit Bal was truly inspirational, put India on map of couture: designer Rick

Mumbai: Legendary is how one would describe Rohit Bal and that's what will always be, says film costume designer Rick who worked with the late fashion industry veteran when he was just starting out.

One of India's fashion pioneers, Bal -- fondly called Gudda by peers and friends -- died on Friday at a south Delhi hospital following a heart attack at the age of 63.

Bal was "the OG of what fashion used to be in India", Rick said remembering his mentor.

"I worked with Rohit Bal for a couple of years as a backstage helper for fashion shows. So I used to meet him often. He was truly inspirational. He put India on the map of couture. He was a pioneer in the world of fashion.

"I can't tell you how amazing it was to have access to his clothes and to him. It’s very sad, but I guess he was suffering for a long time. He was legendary, and the word legendary is what Rohit Bal was and he will always be that," Rick told PTI.

Rick, who has styled Bollywood stars like Vidya Balan, Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, and Sonam Kapoor, said Bal was an institution in himself.

"What we used to study in design was that there are different kinds of finishing. Like in couture or high fashion, garments need to have a certain kind of finishing. That's what makes it different from ready-to-wear stuff.

"Rohit was one of those designers whose finishing was brilliant. It was what we were learning in school. To be able to experience those amazing garments, touch and see them was brilliant," added the former student of Mumbai's National Institute of Fashion Technology.

Besides being a celebrated designer, Rick said Bal's sense of styling garments was "phenomenal".

Recalling an anecdote from behind-the-scenes of a fashion show in the early 2000s, Rick said the designer once entered a room with the clothes from his collection along with four bags full of jewellery.

"Swarovski jewellery was not that prevalent in 2003 and 2004. He came with like these four to five boxes, full of broaches and gorgeous jewellery, and he gave it to me and another assistant. He said, 'These are the clothes, these are all the broaches, I just want you guys to put all the broaches on all the clothes and I want to see what you guys do'.

"I was like, I'm a child. I'm 18', and he was like, ‘You're a student and I'm sure you have ideas. So, I want you to implement your ideas’. It was extremely important and a big show. Celebrities, his clientele and everybody was going to be there. And he gave us those boxes and said, ‘Do what you feel like I want to see what you guys can do with it’. I’ll never forget it. It was an amazing experience," he added.

Rick said Bal's clothes used to be "outrageous and completely different" from other designers.

"He was a creative genius... The fact that who he was and how he used to walk into every (garments) fitting, I'm influenced more by the person he was, and his personal style rather than his design aesthetic... He was like this amazing ball of energy."