A sucker for texture, by his own admission, new-age designer Kunal Rawal has always appealed to the discerning young crowd of men for his innovative and aesthetic take on men’s luxe occasion wear. His new couture festive occasion wear, Dhoop Chaon (light and shade) has many firsts that Kunal had previously shied away from in his 15 years of designing career. Ahead of it unveiling tonight at the India Couture Week, Kunal has an exclusive and elaborate with Indulge about the stunning range of menswear.
What can we expect from the new collection?
Since last year, I have been trying to explore things I shied away from such as brocade and that urge to work with things that I was previously uncomfortable with still reigns supreme. This collection too has a touch of that. It’s all about couture and playing with surface textures and making our own materials for surface textures. We believe a lot in versatility and repeatability when it comes to our clothes and love offering six different looks with one garment. So, we don’t enjoy doing bigger motifs and our storytelling for the season comprises much smaller, micro motifs and texture embroideries. We have just about found acceptance as a brand and now, I am very excited and confident to have more fun and push the design boundary a bit more.
We have also played with new brand shapes and colours like metallic highlights. There are a lot of 3D-printing and 3D-printed materials for our embroideries, and we have used technology to evolve occasion wear. With an eye for sustainability, we have also employed zero-waste pattern cutting. I believe in a lot of washes which end up using a lot of water, so, during the lockdown, we worked out sustainable ways where I could create washes for individual pieces.
Genderfluid androgynous clothes are peeping into the occasion wear scene too and I am getting excited to get it incorporated in our latest collection too, where we have our first androgynous lehenga. I have also worked with paisley motifs for the first time with some stunning geometric paisleys in the silhouettes. The drape is another thing I have played around with this time. Our clothes are usually a bit more structured and a little less asymmetric but this time, there are lots of drapes. It’s an aesthetic-based collection that’s relevant for red carpet events to deep-rooted traditional weddings.
We are enjoying pastels but I like them a bit more whitewashed for a brighter and fresher look. So, you have bright lilac, whitish mint, icy and whitish blues, and an array of pinks including blush and salmon pinks. There are signature industrial tones and military shades coming into occasion wear. In addition to jewel tones like navies, burgundies and teals for the night, we also have a good number of olives in dark and pastel shades. I’m also trying to make charcoal grey the new navy, which is my second favourite colour after black.
In terms of new silhouettes, besides the lehengas, there will be genderfluid gharara, some cropped jackets and jacket blouses, we will be launching our stoles for the first time and also creating bits and pieces of jewellery for the show.
So, do we see you entering the high jewellery space any time soon?
Definitely, it’s a big yes. We can’t wait to come up with our own range of jewellery since these are all menswear elements that have not been explored well so far. To give you a little hint, there will be exciting buttons in the show to get an understanding of how people are receiving them. The buttons are inspired by the ones I made for my own weddings and will have geometric angles to them and Bombay as an inspiration too.
What are a few must-haves in men’s occasion wear wardrobe?
A deconstructed sherwani from our label is a very prudent night silhouette since you can wear the sleeveless jacket separately and the kurta separately. Have a classic bandhgala -- it never goes out of style. I am a big fan of kurta shirts since they are easy and versatile to style. Invest in ivory bottoms and good mojris which have clean, modern yet festive designs and are in dark and light brown colours. If you are wearing an exciting bundi, keep the rest of the look clean or in tones of the same colour. Go for small accessories in the neck. Buttons are a great way to accessorise too. Celebrate your individual style rather than following what you are told.
How has the men’s occasion wear scene evolved over the years?
When I started out, it was the family who primarily decided how a man was supposed to dress or look and it was slightly more traditional. When we did the wedding wardrobe for Shahid Kapur, there was a clear evolution of the aesthetic and that’s something I am enjoying. Menswear is evolving and changing so fast. Now, the groom is more involved and people understand that luxury is for yourself and not to just shine out in a room of 500 ppl. It’s so exciting being a menswear designer now with younger designers pushing the boundary and using Indian crafts and textiles and the rich bank of heritage fabrics and jewellery with a new perspective.
How much have you changed as a designer over these years?
I have changed and grown quite a bit and it’s been very exciting that I have created experiences. I wanted to explore and do so much, still trying to change how Indian men dress. I started a label called D Stress, and then I went on to become the creative head of Provogue and also designed the first menswear collection for Being Human. All this I did to understand what India wants and how I can impact a change. Films being my second love after fashion, I started designing film costumes with Aisha, then Desi Boyz, Once Upon a Time In Mumbai and Shootout in Wadala happened.
I was heavily into costume designing for 5-6 years before returning to showcases and starting out my own retail. The lows teach more than the highs and I have learnt to respect perspectives. Earlier. It was a lot about how I looked at things and wanted to put it out there. All that is still there, but I have learned to incorporate different perspectives and how everyone looks at them.
You other upcoming collections?
I am working on a few more collections and we would be shooting for another couture collection right after this show. Once that’s out I am planning to work on a diffusion line.
Price on request. On kunalrawalofficial.com