Rathore to design Saif’s trousseau

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From the designer who patented the jodhpurs and the bandhgalas, Raghavendra Rathore has always been on a drive. The latest up the charismatic designer’s sleeve is designing Saif Ali Khan’s wedding trousseau. Though Raghavendra has been designing Saif’s clothes for a while now, the sittings for his wedding collections begin only end of this month.

Raghavendra is driven by a holistic vision of luxury, finding inspiration in the old world charm of royalty teamed with a modern twist. Currently on a Blenders Pride fashion tour, he will showcase his latest collections in Bengaluru this weekend. We call in the designer who’s been trained at the New York’s Parsons School of Design to find out what’s in store.
His designs always reflect on his 1,200 years of family history and lineage. Raghavendra says, “I find Saif Ali Khan one of the most well dressed actors in the industry. He has worn my khadi kurtas and I don’t think anyone else could do more justice to it. He also carries the Jodhpuri breeches that I have designed with so much panache. He is one person who can carry the idea of simplicity and make it fashionable.”
One who has kept aloof from the big bad world of Bollywood, Raghavendra says, “I have never tried to make strides in Bollywood. You can say that I had shied off as it was a little ambiguous. Sometimes the directors and actors are on different levels. And there’s no point trampling on a place where my friends Aki Narula, Rocky S. and Manish Malhotra already are. But when Akshay Kumar called me to design his clothes for his upcoming film, Oh My God, I readily agreed as he is himself the producer of the film. Akshay and I sat down for many trials.”
“In one of the scenes, he is wearing an open white achkan which is billowing in the wind, which turned out to be the film’s highpoint. I also wanted to introduce my latest collections to fill the gap between prêt and designer wear, making inroads into mass market. Who wants to wear a shirt which has to be dry-cleaned every time?” adds the designer, who is known for his diversity of design.