After I design a garment, I hate it’
Times of India, India
One of India’s leading couture designers, Rajesh Pratap Singh was in town for a fashion jamboree.
After the last model sauntered back, the music faded, and the applause reverberated across the venue, designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, made a quick entry, peeped from behind the models, waved, and sped into the shadows. Rajesh explains, “It’s not I but my clothes that should be remembered.” The designer, known for his eccentric demeanour, adds emphatically, “I’ll do anything to promote fashion.”
Rajesh’s meticulous attention to design, pattern and painstaking stress on the quality of the product is what makes his clothes sought after. “India ranks poorly in terms of quality. It’s disappointing that we haven’t yet touched a vast resource of raw materials. The wool from Ladakh is better than that from- Mongolia, and Indian cotton is finer than the Egyptian variety. We need to invest in research, and employ advance technology and engineering. The country’s great talent pool needs to be respected,” he voices.
His profound perspective about fabric and fashion has helped him make an indelible mark in the domestic and international couture sector. “I love the medium (couture), and competition stimulates me,” says the designer who has represented the country at the Jakarta Fashion Festival, Hong Kong Fashion Week, Singapore Fashion Week and Dubai Couture Week. Rajesh also participated in fashion related road shows in New York, Paris and London. Other venues he’s showcased his collections at include Tel Aviv, Israel and Osaka, Japan, Cape Town. Rajesh also shares, that his creations are for “intelligent individuals who can carry off designs with panache and confidence.”
The designer’s signature style has won him many accolades. His achievements include national awards for best designer. “But, I genuinely feel I am not good enough. We haven’t seen enough here, and hence can’t pick the good from the bad,” he retorts in response to the recognition the country has bestowed on him.
Rajesh’s eccentric quest for perfection keeps him on his heels, round the clock. “I have to keep doing something every day. After I’ve designed a garment, I hate it. I haven’t yet made my master piece,” he says.
With perfection as his life’s motto, he explores newer avenues for design and style. Fashion, however, comes naturally to him. For instance, he shares, “On my flight to Hyderabad, I was browsing through a magazine when a piece on lac bangles, famous here, caught my attention. Immediately, I explored ten ideas around them. Hyderabad has great potential. There’s a lot a designer can do here.”
