Famous fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani paid a touching tribute to Rohit Bal and shared precious memories with him, recalling their first meeting.

Famous fashion designer Rohit Bal passed away on Friday after a long illness. He was 63 years old.

Talking to India Today about his first interaction with Rohit Bal, Tahiliani said, “I remember first seeing Rohit Bal at St Stephen’s specials, who picked him up from Jor Bagh and then picked me up from Prithviraj road. It was a long time back then. I went to St Stephen’s in the heat and came back.” We spent a lot of time chatting, but I left shortly after the first year and decided to continue my education abroad.”

Tahiliani said about Rohit Bal’s work: “I was pleasantly surprised when we decided to come to New Delhi in 1998 and bring a multi-brand community. We met and probably started running some of Rohit Bal’s work. He came after working in exports and men He started working as a clothing designer.”

“I think she might have designed for all the men in that exhibition. And it was very exciting because at that time she was working with textiles, fabrics and those beautiful shawls that she bought in Ludhiana,” Tahiliani recalled.

Tarun Tahiliani praised Rohit Bal’s forward-thinking designs, recalling how he brings “wonderful magic” to women’s wear.

“This was the post-liberalization period in India and we Indians, who had opened up to some extent, were rediscovering our Indianness through more tailoring and construction rather than just textiles. He continued to bring this wonderful magic to women’s clothing, be it for men or women, to perfection She was inspired by the most elegant long silhouettes and sherwani to anarkali and then its many variations, which she could adapt beautifully, elegance and perfection that many Indian designers could not achieve at that time because they did not have the family support of excellent tailoring combined with her wonderful imagination. ”

Tahiliani, who also participated in various fashion shows with Rohit Bal, said: “We did many fashion shows together in the early 90s. We also represented India in one of the big fairs held in Germany. Look, we are all interested in both our Indian subcontinent and India.” “We were discovering our ability to cast a spell abroad, where the popular image was completely different from what this younger generation of designers had fearlessly demonstrated.”

Speaking to India Today, Tahiliani also recalled his fond memories of ‘Gudda’, a fond tribute to Rohit Bal. “I also spent a lot of time with Gudda as a family member of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), both in Delhi and Mumbai. One of my most memorable memories of her was a party we hosted at a farmhouse. The farm was underdeveloped and “Given that all these three-wheelers were completely covered like balloons, you had to drive up to a certain point, and when we got to this party, it really felt much more colorful and more colorful at the time.”

Tahiliani also talked about the fun side of ‘Gudda’ and said that her laughter and creativity are among the “gifts she will always leave me when I think of her.”

“Gudda was like no one else when she was working, and when she was partying, she was like no one else,” Tahiliani said.

Rohit Bal had been suffering from heart disease since last year. In November 2023, he was admitted to the intensive care unit of Medanta Hospital in Gurugram.

She returned to work earlier this year and showed her last show at Lakme India Fashion Week in Delhi last month.

FDCI announced in a social media post late on Friday that Rohit Bal’s body will be cremated at Lodhi Road Crematorium in Delhi today at 5 pm.