Rohit Bal’s fashionable silhouette cuts through his own luminosity of an evolving design métier, with a celestial force that is quintessentially maximalist like him. India’s irrefragable and original master couturier, appositely so, has designed a luxurious home décor and apparel line for Good Earth, an indigenously Indian design house like his own eponymous label, called the Husn-E-Taairaat collection that launched in Mumbai today. Not only can you wear the designer now, but also drink, eat, admire, entertain and sleep in Bal with his exquisitely designed tableware, vases, scarves, espresso and tea service sets and more from this jewel-toned capsule collection.

The original master couturier Rohit Bal

ROHIT BAL:

How did the Husn-E-Taairat Home and Apparel collaboration come about with Good Earth?
I’ve always known that if I designed a home décor line, it would only be with Good Earth, India’s leading design house, simply because it’s a beautiful and aesthetic match of our sensibilities. It was either this or designing a home line for my own store. Home décor is virgin terrain for me, and a completely new and exciting category that I have stepped into with my design métier with Good Earth. My Husn-E-Taairaat (which means ‘beauty of a bird’ in Persian) collection for Good Earth is a reinterpretation of the themes that inspired my 2015 couture line, that was a tribute to the rich crafts of Persia that drew parallels with renaissance and post-impressionism art movements, in the form of a fine home décor and a capsule fashion line. It’s a juxtaposition of my thoughts, influences, art affiliations and a deep, personal love for Indian textiles and the collection celebrates the beauty of wildlife, birds and flowers. The signature motifs of this collection are inspired by vintage Pichwai paintings, one of the most intricate styles of Indian temple art hailing from Rajasthan. The apparel collection in Habutai silk resonates a contemporary aesthetic, with modern silhouettes and a relaxed style, which is very Good Earth. Together, we have beautifully captured my maximalist style and nature inspired motifs in a gorgeous set of home art collectibles accentuated by Good Earth’s rich design language and technical creation expertise.

How easy or difficult was it re-imagining your couture line into Cushions, Espresso and Tea Sets, Tapas Plates, Glasses, Trinket Trays and Vases?
There are a multitude of common inspirations in my work and that of Good Earth’s – most importantly a common love for nature, wildlife, decorative arts and crafts and the need for reviving and preserving indigenous fabrics and techniques. This enabled us to work with an inspired and synergized design language, without losing our individual design essence that is clearly visible in our capsule collection. It was a joy to create a line of exclusive collectibles and select accent pieces for home décor and dining. We have used detailed hand decoration of artwork decals and placement of motifs on fine bone china, ceramic and glass, accentuated with 24 carat gold and platinum. Vibrant shades of royal blue and jade are offset with creams and natural tones to bring this collection to life. Again, all the products feature my signature motifs – multi-colored lotuses, long-tailed birds like peacocks, fruits, beauty, nature, wildlife, flora and fauna. There is a very limited range of pieces in both, home décor and apparel. The collection features less than ten unique styles and pieces and some of the pieces are very few in number, for example the tall vase which is really special, and we have only made three of the same.

Husn-E-Taairaat home collectibles

What are price points for the Rohit Bal Husn-E-Taairaat line?
The collection ranges from gifts starting at $85 (AED 310 approximately) to limited pieces that go upwards of $1500 (AED 5500 approximately).

Who will this designer home collection appeal to and why?
This collection will appeal to young, urban, tasteful millennials around the world, including Dubai of course, looking for everyday luxury and a slice of Rohit Bal, presented in Good Earth’s signature style and that too at very attractive price points. This line has been designed with a strong focus on individual, stand-out pieces and not complete product sets, making it highly versatile and immensely appealing to a wide variety of age groups and home settings.

Rohit Bal & Simran Lal of Good Earth

SIMRAN LAL:

How is it that a 20-year old indigenous Indian brand like yours did not collaborate with Rohit Bal earlier on and now that you have, why him?
Gosh it’s sometimes hard to believe that myself that Good Earth turns 21 in January 2017! I can’t imagine what life was like before Good Earth and where we shopped ourselves. We’ve never gone out strategically seeking or courting collaborations. It’s always been an organic process for us – a natural extension of conversations about shared inspirations and style and that is how the Rohit Bal Husn-E-Taairaat collection came about right after his 2015 couture collection. There’s a natural synergy between Good Earth and Rohit Bal. We share a commitment to craft traditions, a passion for Persian art and culture and love of nature. Being Kashmiri, Rohit has an understanding and deep reverence for flowers and wildlife, all of which are at the heart of our design vocabulary and language. We also share an audience, but for different occasions, and that makes this collaboration particularly exciting. Good Earth is known for everyday luxury and thoughtful gifts while Rohit Bal couture is aspired to for milestone occasions. So we thought it would be fun to make his couture collection relevant in an everyday context. The collaboration with Rohit has been a very enriching experience and I’m sure this association will continue for a very long time.

When will the Husn-E-Taairaat line be available to purchase online, particularly in Dubai and the Middle East?
The collection will be available Nov 21st onwards on http://www.goodearth.in and we ship to over 50 countries, including Dubai and the Middle East. However, for limited edition pieces like the tall vase, which we only have 3 pieces of, one can make the purchase by emailing us directly. Given the Rohit Bal design history and extraordinary demand, we expect the Husn-E-Taairaat collection to go down extremely well in Dubai and the Middle East, which has always shown a penchant for our classic and decorative design aesthetic.

Husn-E-Taairaat apparel and home collectibles

What is your favorite part of the Rohit Bal Good Earth collection?
We are bringing a quintessentially Rohit Bal ‘look’ to home décor with his maximalist style with our maker expertise with quality, pattern play and gift ideas. There is also a charming high tea service. We’ve never done one in such a crepuscular palette and now I wonder why! It’s so rich and opulent in jewel tones and hand decorated with glimmering 24-carat gold accents. It’s very festive and very Rohit Bal and I love it. My favorite hostess gift for the season would be the jewel glass candles with a heady tuberose fragrance. In the apparel collection, I think my first buy is going to be the jacket. Maybe it’s just the weather, but I love the versatility of this statement apparel piece that can be styled with saris, dresses, pants and farshis alike.

This feature first appeared in Gulf News on November 12, 2016

©Rubina A Khan 2016