Hyderabad, July 30: Maverick designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna want to replace your nada walas and ganjees ‘undar wali’ with sleek linear structures and geometrical lines.
In town as part of the Blenders Pride Magical Nights Tour, Rohit and Rahul offered a sneak peak of their 2009 winter line at a city hotel. Not surprising. “India is a bigger market for us than the West,” says Rahul. And the city of pearls is an important part of that market.
“It’s a great party city with warm people and a very evolved sense of fashion,” says Rohit.
“They are wearing whatever’s trendy globally,” chimes in Rahul.
In fact, Cue and H2O, their women’s and men’s wear lines, have been selling in Hyderabad for the last 10 years through a local designer.
Talking of the global impact of Indian fashion the duo said that in an earlier era there was great fashion in the country, but very little quality control, as a result of which international buyers ended up disappointed. “But now we have quality along with fashion and its great to see people flocking to the Indian stalls at international fashion shows,” said Rahul. Indians, rather than westerners, wearing their clothes gives them a bigger high.
“Hyderabad has changed completely changed since the last time we visited six years ago. The airport, roads and everything else are so modern that we would like to come here more often,” they gushed.
“The press pack is so united here, I wish the fashion fraternity could learn from them,” added Rohit in a subtle allusion to the ‘fashion wars’ between Mumbai and Delhi, manifested as the Wills India Fashion Week and the Lakme India Fashion Week.
Rohit and Rahul established Cue and H2O in 1997 after they found that they had similar sensibilities.
“We think alike and fight a lot, but it’s a real pleasure working with each other,” they said. Established in 1997, Cue and H2O are influenced by modern contemporary art, according to the duo. Figures, because they also own an art gallery in Delhi.
“The look is minimalist and the clothing is contemporary,” says Rahul. Affordability and comfort, apart from verve and vogue, mark their clothes.
Rohit and Rahul are are partnering local designer Asmita Marwah in Hyderabad. The tour halts in 11 cities and Hyderabad is third on the list. They have savoured the local Biryani, but wanted to gorge on after the fashion show because, “we can’t let the biryani affect our model’s waistlines”.
–Agencies–