Rohit Khosla (29 November 1958 – 16 February 1994) was a pioneer of contemporary

fashion industry Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

in India. Khosla studied in England, worked with designers in New York, but returned to India to start his own label in 1987, along with his sister, designer Rohini Khosla.

Early life

Born in November 1958 to Usha and Kamal Khosla in an affluent

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian state of Punjab today, many have ancestry from the greater Punjab region ...

family, Rohit had always dreamed of becoming a fashion pioneer. An alumnus of

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mode ...

Dera Doon Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

, he took a foundation course in art and then followed it by studying fashion at

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

. In college, his contemporaries were Nick Coleman, John Richmond and

Helen Storey Helen Storey, MBE,

. He is quoted in his biography Vanguard, penned by Rohini Khosla, ''Studying in England was pure bliss -- ideas just flowing, fabrics everywhere and fashion obsessive people all around me.'' He entered the Indian fashion scene when it was still a nascent industry and left his hallmark.New cut

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

, 20 December 2007. In those days, it was considered a bold step to enter fashion, especially when one had such a high-profile qualification. Rohit Khosla was the first Indian fashion designer to launch a haute couture label. His family was extremely supportive of his fashion career. In his short life, Khosla spearheaded major contributions to the Indian fashion industry.

Career

In 1987, he co-founded Ensemble, India's popular designer label store in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, with Tarun and Sal Tahiliani, which started with five labels:

Tarun Tahiliani Tarun Tahiliani is a noted Indian fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body post ...

, Rohit Khosla, Neil Bieff, Amaya, Abu Jani and

Sandeep Khosla Sandeep Khosla is a noted Indian fashion designer, who co-owns the label, Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. He is best known for his ability to infuse Indian craftsmanship and textile heritage with European tailored silhouette. His signature is to combin ...

. Many leading fashion designers of India trained under Rohit Khosla, including Aparna Chandra, Ranna Gill, Sonam Dobal and

JJ Valaya JJ Valaya (born 8 October 1967) is an Indian fashion designer and couturier from New Delhi, India. He founded the House of Valaya, a luxury fashion and lifestyle house in 1992, along with his brother TJ Singh. A founding member of Fashion Desi ...

Death

Khosla, who was

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

, died in 1994, aged 36, due to cancer. He had earlier contracted

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

Legacy

In 1998, Rohini Khosla published a book on his life and work, titled ''Rohit Khosla, Vanguard''. In 2007 the

India Fashion Week India Fashion Week is a bi-annual fashion week organized and promoted by the Fashion Design Council of India. It was sponsored by Wills Lifestyle from 2006–2014 before Amazon.in became the sponsor. The first event in 2000 featured the work ...

paid a tribute to him, with designers like

Rohit Bal Rohit Bal is an Indian fashion designer. He designs for both men and women. Early life Rohit Bal was born in the city of Srinagar in the Jammu and Kashmir state of India on 8 May 1961 into a Kashmiri Pandit family. Bal received his Bach ...

dedicating his collection to him. The annual India Zee F Awards presents the Rohit Khosla Award for 'Debutante Designer of the Year'.

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

, 1 May 2006.

Early life

Career

Death

Legacy

References

Further reading