Welcome to Good Times - What are you searching for?

His shows epitomise drama. His clothes define opulence. His roots are in Kashmir. He is Rohit Bal, India's Master of Fabric. Let's join him as he takes a trip to 'Paradise' and tells Ambika Anand why he loves Kashmir...

Ambika: Despite all the problems, Kashmir is celebrated for its textiles, its weaves and embroideries. Rohit which ones are your favourite?

Rohit: That would have to be the Jamawar, which is one of the most exquisite textiles in the world. It comes originally from Persia but for the past many hundreds of years it has been made here by the Kashmiris.

It's incredible and absolutely the most beautiful textile I've ever seen in my life.

Then of course we have the famous Shahtoosh which is now banned.
The famous ring shawl as you know it, it's been there forever, but now you are not allowed to produce it legally because the Cheru, the deer from which it comes is almost extinct.

Then of course the world-wide phenomena of Pashmina. And to think of it , it all comes from Kashmir!

Ambika: Till you were 17, you lived in Srinagar. Tell us a bit about your growing up here.

Rohit: Oh God, it was absolutely incredible! It was actually like growing up in Paradise! Life was just like one amazing, long picnic, it was just beautiful.

Ambika: So when you left Srinagar at 17, did you know you would do fashion?

Rohit: I didn't really know I would do fashion but I knew I was going to do something which was going to be more creative rather than a regular job.

Ambika: Kashmir on the world map, what does that mean to you?

Rohit: I don't think Kashmir has made a fashion statement anywhere. It's the Craft. It's the carpets, the shawls, it's the Pashmina, the Jamawars, the Shahtoosh earlier. The craftsmanship is incredible.
So I would say the craft is a worldwide phenomena but maybe not fashion.

Ambika: Why has Kani replaced the Jamawar in the looms of the Kashmiri weaver?

Rohit: Kani has taken over because the Jamawar has become very, very expensive to produce. I don't think the returns are much for the weaver, given the man hours that go into making a Jamawar shawl compared to Kani.

Ambika: Tell us about embroidery unique to Kashmir – Crewel and Ari.

Rohit: There's essentially embroidery called crewel. It is the same technique as the chain stitch.

But unlike chain stitch, crewel doesn't cover the entire fabric. Now there are innovations, like I've never seen it done on velvet before!

Ambika: Ari is the technique behind both. So you have crewel work, chain stitch and ari. Which one of the three embroideries do you use the most or all of them?

Rohit: We use the ari much more in the form crewel work as it is much easier to wear. It's not so stiff, it moulds beautifully, you can do all sorts of shapes.

Ambika: So which one of your recent collections can we see these being used?

Rohit: We used lot of ari work in my Fall Winter 2009-2010 which we just did. I did a lot of this work in my Aztec collection which was Spring Summer 2008.
The interesting thing about ari is that it can shape the embroidery. That's what's incredible, you can't do that in any other form of embroidery.

But in chain stitch and ari you can actually form a spectrum of colours from one going to the other. Which is really fascinating and that's something really difficult to do.

This remains my staple embroidery.

Ambika: How does one look after the fabric with these embroidery?

Rohit: Keep them, if possible in vacuum sealed plastic bags.

Ambika: A few more questions. Let's begin with the Rohit Bal School of Design. Most of you may not know but some of the most famous designers in the country worked at Rohit Bal's company -- Give us a list...

Rohit: Manish Arora, many years ago Ashish Soni worked for a while, Abhishek Gupta, Pankaj & Nidhi Ahuja, Puja Nayyar, the list goes on...

Ambika: What keeps Rohit Bal focussed?

Rohit: The desire to excel in whatever I'm doing and to eventually find the mantra for perfection.

Ambika: Who is the most fabulous person you ever dressed up?

Rohit: Myself!

Ambika:: Your favourite colour?

Rohit: Always good to be Ivory, white.

Ambika: Among the new designers in the country who is your favourite?

Rohit: Anamika Khanna.

Ambika: In your next birth you'd like to be?

Rohit: Myself!

Ambika: Your favourite song?

Rohit: It's a Hindi song from Guide - Tere Mere Sapne.

Ambika: Who are the most iconic people you'd like to meet?

Rohit: Ideally it would have been Michelangelo followed by Alexander the Great.

Ambika: Your dream for Kashmir is?

Rohit: I just want to see Kashmir the way it was when I was growing up – without violence.

Interested in the entire interview?:Watch Video