Kunal Rawal has a lot of pet peeves about how men dress

Mondays are usually uneventful, but last night at the Taj Palace in New Delhi, Kunal Rawal showcased his new collection, ‘Rawalgarh’, in a format that was more party than runway show.

The show began with a music video, ‘Rawalgarh di Jugni’, created in collaboration with music duo Akshay and IP. Shot at the Alila Fort Bishangarh, the film featured a diverse cast of models (all in Kunal Rawal, of course) and an AI-generated raven. Once the video wrapped up, custodians of ‘Rawalgarh’ emerged for a military-salute-inspired performance showcasing the range of movement the designer’s garments allow. Then, models in cropped jackets, deconstructed sherwanis, pintucked kurtas featuring techniques like chikankari, French knots, kantha, raffia, Benarasi brocades, dhup chao, and chattai work, took over. Clever detachable elements, like belts, tailcoats, and the designer’s signature magnet stoles, were peppered throughout the collection. There was even a silk checked lungi in the mix.

At the end, all 140-plus models took to the runway in a celebratory parade along with the designer while the audience clapped, cheered, and hooted. The mood in the pavilion was anything but that of a boring Monday night.

Below, we caught up with Rawal after the show to talk about his pre-show routine, his fashion icks, and sharing space with his wife, designer Arpita Mehta, in the weeks leading up to their shows on the same day.

What were the 24 hours leading up to the show like?

I was supposed to fly to Delhi yesterday, but I had to tweak my plans. I was at my factory in Mumbai all day till late evening. At night, I was grooming—I did my beard, my hair, all of it. Aalim [Hakim] is Mr Grooming for me. And then I took a flight to Delhi this morning. Super hectic, but we made it work. Touchwood. It’s been a beautiful day.

It doesn’t look like a new haircut.

I hate it when things look perfect. All our clothes have wires in the collars, we’re meant to roll up our sleeves. I am very much that unkempt, lived-in sort of guy. I hate something looking perfect or packaged with a bow on top, which is why I also don’t like gifts and surprises.

What time did you end up going to bed?

2 am, and I woke up at 4:30. I’m gonna sleep my ass off today.

Both you and Arpita had shows scheduled for the same day. How have the last few weeks been at home?

I feel like we haven’t seen each other. We’re both very private with our work, and ‘live and let live’ as people in general. We have completely diverse takes on couture, so we enjoy each other’s perspectives. I’ll get involved with her work only if she asks me and vice versa. We end up talking a lot of shop around each other, so there’s always an opinion that comes here and there. Imagine having a show on the same day. I was talking to Mr [Sunil] Sethi about this, seeing two different perspectives on couture coming from the same house. It’s been fun, but we’ve not hung out much recently, because I've been doing my jam and she’s been doing hers.

Did you end up catching Arpita’s show?

I caught a part of it till I had a commitment that I had to run to.

Do you have any show-day rituals or superstitions?

A huddle backstage is something I always do before a show—with the models, with the team, and everybody backstage. I think I do it more for me than for anyone else, because I’m a nervous wreck usually. There’s so much that goes into putting up a show. I can’t wait to go and have a drink, have a conversation with everybody that’s worked on the show, and celebrate.

‘Rawalgarh’ is your biggest show yet…

It’s the most experiential show. This time we made a make-believe world of Rawalgarh to wholeheartedly give audiences our brand experience. We’ve been creating music for the last five to six years, but we’ve finally amassed enough for an EP and it’s also the first music video from the brand and hopefully not the last. There are quite a few more in the pipeline. I love music and movies.

There was also an AI element in the music video.

I enjoy AI. It’s so fresh and new, we’re all learning how to go about it, and I’m definitely not against it. If used correctly, technology helps push what we do.

Was the scale to mark 20 years in the fashion business?

I heard something recently that stayed with me: you can’t compete with someone having fun. And I’ve been feeling that fashion has become too thought of and cerebral than an all-heart kind of situation. Fashion is about falling in love with something and just wanting it. So, I’m trying to bring that energy back, making it less transactional, more heart.

You’ve done things like a deconstructed sherwani set, magnetic stoles, mock layers—innovations in Indian traditional menswear. Was there anything from this collection specifically that stands out innovation-wise?

I like innovations that make tradition contemporary and comfortable. To be honest, I’m enjoying the magnetic stoles. I’m not very pro stoles because they make me fidgety so this just attaches onto your collar, and you look the same way when you leave the house and come back—or at least your garment does.

The mock layers came to me from my costume design and stage show days. You have three seconds to change your entire outfit, so we used to construct multiple looks into one garment. I brought that into my label here from those days.

The deconstructed sherwanis come from a functional thought where sangeets are all about dance and performances and grooms are expected to wear sherwanis and move around. Obviously, they’re going to look messy because they’re not made for you to move around. So, it’s like a functional cheat. I like approaching design as a solution to a problem.

Do you have a pet peeve about how men are dressing nowadays?

I have a pet peeve with brooches and over-accessorising. I have a pet peeve with feathers. I have a pet peeve with jaali ganjis and anything super sheer. I have a pet peeve with super-low necks. I’m a pet-peeved-out guy.

I imagine you come to Delhi quite often for work. You also have a new store at Ambawatta One.

Yes, we have two stores in Delhi now and one in Hyderabad, so I’m always on the move. I’ve been enjoying my morning-evening trips. I like sleeping in my bed because it doesn’t spoil the next day. It also turns out to be cheaper. You can’t live half your life in hotels. At times, Kala Ghoda also feels like a different city because I live on the other side of town.

What is one thing you always make time for in Delhi when you’re here?

I have quite a few favourite restaurants, but my favourite butter chicken and chhole-bhature is in this hotel—the Indian restaurant Loya at the Taj Palace.

What does tomorrow look like for you?

I am gonna sleep! I’ve been waiting to do that, but I know I’ll be woken up for content and everything else that needs to go out. I’m gonna try and do whatever I can now and just take it slightly easier tomorrow. My family’s going back to Bombay and I’m supposed to fly back too, but I might just change my flight. Why not?

And have some butter chicken here?

Yes.