KUNAL RAWAL’s show was a rage at the fashion week held recently with his showstoppers, Shahid Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor with heavy eye make-up and a man bun. He styles for films, shows and it’s great to see his label becoming a rage. PRATISHTHA MALHOTRA finds out what is his signature.
n When you’re coming up with a new collection, do you have a particular ‘Kunal Rawal Signature’?
I think I definitely have a signature which I would like to think that it shows in all my clothes. You should tell me this though. (Laughs) I am very selfish with clothes, I also like to make clothes for myself because I think that I am the kind of audience that I am going to be catering to. I think it is very important for guys to not look packaged. I have been using this term this season- cultivated imperfection, it is good to not always look perfect and be uncomfortable. I think that is a big factor with the gene only. You know the minute everything is perfect, you are uncomfortable and it starts to show. The idea is to be comfortable, like i am someone who hates to wear bows and ties because i feel claustrophobic, so i wear most of my suits with a button open. My style is somewhere my mark… it is difficult to put it in one sentence but I think I have my world which you can see in my clothes.
n Where do you think men need help? What is a NO NO…
Fittings are so necessary and that is one thing guys are not used to because of the age old concept that guys shouldn’t go to get their clothes fitted. You buy readymade clothes and wear it however. But then you can look in the mirror and tell yourself if it is fitting you well or no. Also the middle ground between skinny jeans and baggy jeans. If you are going really skinny with your jeans then you have a drop crotch otherwise it is like wearing tights. This is one thing I really don’t like seeing on men. Also showing off your body by just wearing tight clothes and the deep necks … style doesn’t depend on only your body, there are ten other things that go into it. But then again the gym phenomenon hit the scene before fashion but let’s hope we see less of it in the future. That shouldn’t translate into clothes. One more thing which is a little stressful is translucent fabric. It looks great on guys but then you need to change your fit with such fabrics. These are fabrics that need to fall and they look good only then. Also, the net ganjis…you know when I have a lot of interactions with clients, they tell me that they don’t want to show their legs and things like not wanting to wear brown. They feel it doesn’t suit the Indian skin tone, I don’t agree with that. There are 30 shades of brown. I personally feel that brown is a very strong colour for formal wear, it is replacing black on many occasions.…
n What about the fact that men hardly leave their denims for any other kind of bottoms…
Again, a lot of people still think casual means denims and formal means trouser. I love the denim, it is a great garment for semi-formal wear but then again our country is so hot and denims are so heavy that we should make a shift. Waxed denims, cleaner or washed denims are making the cut. Two of my favourite denims are indigo unwashed and black waxed. When
they are clean, they look like pants and is a great garment for a semi formal event with a pair of sneakers or a brogue. You can style denim differently also but you don’t have to get married to the thought of denim means casual. There are joggers, chinos, denim look alike joggers too. People should variate.
n You also design for films, how deep do you get yourself into the character and the milieu when setting the look for a certain character?
When you are working on a film, you need to understand that it is the directors world. The idea of characterisation when styling for a film is understanding the character and your one point contact is your director. You read the script and try to spend as much time as you can with the director to understand what he has in his mind and then you bring your style to it- basically interpret it your way. It is a collective effort…It is a creative field where there is no right or wrong. You keep going at it. What I love is that directors do not restrict you in any way which is why we do the look test, once you know the character you can go crazy with it. For me it is a trial and error process and I think that it what makes it so fun. The hair, make-up, accessories, body language…all these things need to work perfectly with the clothes.
