An alter ego is a phenomenon that does not easily reveal itself. It emerges only in moments of unawareness, often during the most challenging times. When it appears, it reflects with striking clarity the depth of one’s power, wisdom and intention — an experience that shaped designer Bhawna Rao’s latest collection. This edit also marks a major milestone in her journey as the brand is set to celebrate its tenth anniversary this year.
“The concept of the alter ego is not new to me; it has been developing within me for the past four or five years. This collection is deeply personal and reflects a journey of self-exploration. Over time, I began to understand myself beyond the surface and realised that we do not have just one personality — we carry many sides within us, often without even knowing it. You see this most clearly in unplanned moments. Those instinctive reactions reveal parts of ourselves that we do not consciously control and that is where the alter ego begins to surface. I wanted to capture that moment of breaking and revelation in my collection, ” Bhawna begins.
In many ways, an alter ego defines you on a deeper level than you may even understand yourself. An alter ego is encountered only when you surrender to yourself, when you allow your wild, vivacious self to flourish. In that surrender, you meet the most conscious and authentic version of who you truly are. It holds more colours than one can fully perceive within one’s own character. To truly understand one’s alter ego, the designer says that one must ask oneself difficult questions and be completely honest and vulnerable.
“I began researching the idea of the alter ego, but I realised that something so deep cannot be understood through books alone. It requires self-questioning and lived experience. Sometimes it broke me. Sometimes I felt overwhelmed. Sometimes I felt proud of myself. We all go through that. There was a time when I felt deeply creative. I carried that pride, but I later faced a long creative block and realised something,” the designer adds.
In the process of understanding herself better, Bhawna was not only humbled as a designer but as an artiste and a human being as well. “Creativity is not something you are born with or die with; you do not create it, you manifest it. It is a place. If you can feel that creativity in you, be grateful because it does not belong to you. You are chosen as a medium to transform it through your art and share it with the world. When I understood that, I realised how superficial we can be and I do not mean that negatively. There is so much to us that even I do not fully understand yet. The process brought many emotions,” she elucidates.
This National Institute of Fashion Technology alumna is an established luxury fashion designer best known for her high-end, handcrafted couture gowns and evening wear. Her creations are heavily inspired by nature, the wild and themes of self-love, blending contemporary silhouettes with traditional Indian craftsmanship.
Her previous collections — Under the Stars, Dry Rose from an Old Book, Immortal, I’m So Sexy, Coral Carol and Forest Flower — celebrate women who are graceful, elegant, strong and thoughtful, balancing a powerful presence with a glamorous edge. She launched her eponymous label, Bhawna Rao, in 2016 and is all set to unveil her brand new edit — Oblique.
“I had been calling this collection Alter Ego for a long time and when it came to naming it, I wanted the title to be direct because, without explanation, people might not fully understand its meaning. For me, alter ego represents ‘you and you’ — the person you know yourself to be and the person you are still discovering. Sometimes we catch glimpses of this other self, but rarely pause to truly understand it. That is why I chose the idea of the oblique, which represents two parallel lives, perspectives or phenomena existing side by side,” she tells us.
I had been calling this collection Alter Ego for a long time and when it came to naming it, I wanted the title to be direct because, without explanation, people might not fully understand its meaning. For me, alter ego represents ‘you and you’ — the person you know yourself to be and the person you are still discovering. Sometimes we catch glimpses of this other self, but rarely pause to truly understand it. That is why I chose the idea of the oblique, which represents two parallel lives, perspectives or phenomena existing side by side,” she tells us.
Bhawna reveals that translating the idea of the Oblique into the collection was one of the most challenging parts since the concept is deeply personal to her.
“I began by breaking down my understanding of the alter ego into simple visual symbols that came to me while designing. I would see precisely-cut shards of broken glass — those split-second moments when our understanding of ourselves suddenly breaks apart. I also kept visualising rain, which later began to symbolise the way our personalities continuously flow and transform through life. I translated the concept into the garments through angular placements and sharp shapes across the gowns. One can also spot fringes and soft metallic elements, reflecting us in our most vulnerable moments, when we all become childlike,” she shares.
The collection also incorporates elongated 3D embroideries using bugle beads arranged in fluid, flowing patterns. That fluidity represents the nature of our thoughts — constantly moving, shifting and evolving. This thought process is also extended to the edit’s colour palette.
“I also expressed this transformation of personality through colour. The collection moves through contrasting tones — from ivories, powder blue and soft pinks to deep plum, rich royal blue, silver and gold. These extremes reflect the many layers and contradictions within us. For me, it is ‘you and you’ — like black and white: opposites existing together, much like yin and yang. All these contrasts eventually come together to create a sense of wholeness and oneness, which I wanted to depict through the colour palette of the collection,” she reveals.
The collection primarily features gowns, along with cocktail dresses, statement skirts and capes. “We have also introduced a new silhouette that we had never explored before,” she notes. Every piece in the collection is entirely handmade and created with immense care and love. “Each dress requires a minimum of around 600 hours of craftsmanship, while some pieces involve more than 3,000 hours of labour,” Bhawna notes.
What makes Oblique so special for the designer isn’t just the fact that it’s personal, but that the launch of this collection coincides with her label completing a decade in the industry. “When I started this brand, I was a very different person and designer from whom I am today. Looking back, I realise this transformation happened naturally rather than intentionally. This collection feels transformative not only in terms of the designs themselves, but also in the way it reflects my own growth as a person and as a designer. In many ways, Oblique truly represents a decade of evolution,” she signs off.
Price on request. Available online soon.
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