Blenders Pride Fashion Tour, 2018 : Rohit Bal, Bombay #NAINAxBPFT #MyStyleMyPride

Third stop for the 14th edition of the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour : Bombay with Rohit Bal with his collection called “Gul-Dastah”. At the Bandra Fort, which has a lovely view of the Sea Link as well. It was a wonderful evening. It was hard for my brain to comprehend how this particular event was going to be pulled off. Rohit’s garments hardly need an introduction and stand up for themselves pretty much on their own. And then the location itself is iconic. Putting these two together, with powerhouse Shubha Mudgal ( who gave a stunning, almost 45 minute performance ), with 85 models ( including two showstoppers : Siddharth Malhotra and Diana Penty ) and more than 100 garments… the mind boggles.

Of course, they pulled it off! And we had a cute mutt who changed the mood of the evening considerably – a stray mutt wandered onto the runway midway and the crowd LOVED it! There was a collective “Awwww!” from the audience, models and showstoppers alike. Awe for the spectacular display turned into warmth & camaraderie and it felt like family. The doggo happily wagged its tail & looked on. There’s a photo of it in the images below, and I think it might be posing for the cameras!

From the press release :

“Weaving a seamless story around ‘My Heritage, My Pride’, Rohit Bal showcased a spectacular experience which was an ode to the magnificent beauty of flowers, dedicated entirely to the greatest treasures of the natural world, and inspired by botanical paintings and works by some of the great Masters of the Renaissance period. The collection renders a vintage feel and has been done on both traditional and contemporary silhouettes on organic fabrics using thread embroidery to gold wire and zardozi. Both sensitive and ornate with an underlying sense of luxury interwoven in its many layers, the collection is an absolute beauty in its purest form.”

This was, definitely, one of the more unforgettable shows I’ve had the privilege of photographing. Both my arms were shaking by the end of it – there were so many garments and I HAD to photograph them all! No regrets.

The photographs of Shubha Mudgal, behind the scenes : I squeezed into the video interview room just as she was about to leave and asked her for a quick photo. She said she’d end up smiling and then her eyes would close completely and that’s exactly what happened and that’s why I adore the image so much. She’s adorable. And heck, she’s Shubha Mudgal!

Previous city stops of the Blenders Pride Fashion Tour include : Designer Gaurav Gupta’s “My Expression, My Pride” at Taj Falaknuma Palace, Hyderabad and Read more about the first leg of the fashion tour with Tarun Tahiliani and his show-stoppers.