Raghavendra Rathore

Some Lesser Known Facts About Raghavendra Rathore

• Raghavendra Rathore is an Indian fashion designer. He also works in interior, accessories, products, and jewellery designing.

• Rathore, one of the leading luxury fashion designers of India, has exclusive patent rights to Bandhgala Jackets and Jodhpuris.

• Raghavendra is a member of the erstwhile royal family of Jodhpur and he is the cousin of Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur.

• He is the great-grandson of the Maharaja of Jodhpur – Sri Sardar Singh, who was known to be the most well-dressed monarch of his time and who invented the Jodhpur style Safa (headgear) and popularised Achkan. His grandfather was Major General Maharaj Dhiraj Sir Ajit Singh, for whom the famous Ajit Bhawan Palace was built in 1927, while his grandmother, Sajjan Kanwar, was the queen of Jodhpur and the sister of the Maharaja of Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. ^[10]Raghavendra Rathore – official website

• Rathore realised that he wanted to be a ‘lifestyle designer’ after taking inspiration from his grandfather’s elder brother, the late Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh. ^[11]PressReader

• Raghavendra initially studied at a local school in Jodhpur, but when he was four or five, his school was destroyed in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. After this, Rathore was sent to Mayo College, a boarding school in Ajmer. ^[12]Hindustan Times

• When Rathore completed his first year of college in Vermont, US, the royal designer’s parents asked him to fund his own education. He took up minimal jobs in the US like scraping the paint off old buildings in the neighbourhood, and side projects like fixing and restoring vintage cars. ^[13]PressReader

• After completing his graduation from the Parsons School of Design, Raghavendra worked in Manhattan as an intern under Donna Karan of DKNY. It was then Raghavendra had a chance encounter with the famous designer Oscar de la Renta in an elevator, which eventually landed him a job as a senior assistant at the global fashion house. ^[14]Mid-Day

• Raghu got his big break when Oscar de la Renta hired him to design the house of Pierre Balmain. He worked there for two years, before returning to Jodhpur.

•  In 1994, Raghavendra visited his family in Jodhpur after a decade long stint in the US. Upon his return, Raghu’s cousin and the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Gaj Singh, asked him to put up a fashion show, which Rathore admitted took him two months. For the show, he sought help from other Indian designers including Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Bal, and others. ^[15]The Telegraph

• The 27-year-old Raghavendra then launched his own bespoke brand ‘Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur (RR)’ in 1994, called ‘Inde Pret’ internationally, which primarily focused on men’s wear. He started off his label with a small store in New Delhi. Gradually, Rathore expanded his portfolio to women’s wear, kid’s wear, jewellery designing, interior designing, and consulting. ^[16]The Times of India

  

• In 2005, the lifestyle designer launched his chocolate brand, Les Chocolates de Jodhpur, with the help of his marketing director Mr Monish Bali. ^[17] the-south-asian

• In 2011, the men’s fashion designer, Raghavendra, launched his new line dedicated exclusively to women’s Indian wear needs, called the ‘Blue Mantra.’ ^[18]Vogue

• In the same year, Rathore was honoured by the state of Rajasthan for his contribution to promoting the rich heritage of Rajasthan and its culture. The then Chief Minister of the state, Ashok Gehlot, granted Rathore Government recognition, a first of its kind in the State’s history. ^[19]The Times of India

• The Indian designer has designed garments for movies like Eklavya and Khoobsurat. He has also designed Amitabh Bachchan’s look in the first season of KBC and the reception area of one of India’s finest luxury hotels, Suryagarh, in Jaisalmer. ^[20]Mid-Day

• In 2012, Raghavendra became one of the first designers to create the “Brand India” image for a fashion company and his RR brand became the first Indian company to have exclusive patent rights on Jodhpurs and Bandhgala Jackets. ^[21]Mid-Day In an interview, Rathore said,
  

  When I took up the bandhgala it was very primitive. It looked boxy and had huge armhole. We started fixing it and contemporising it. And once we were satisfied, we got the Jodhpur Bandhgala pattern copyrighted.”

• Rathore’s clientele includes stalwarts from various fields like the King of Jaipur – Maharaja Padmanabh Singh, the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal – HH Maharaja Manujendra Shah, His Highness of Qatar – Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Duchess of York – Sarah Ferguson, Hollywood celebrity Matthew McConaughey, Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, and Bollywood celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, and many others. ^[22]Travel + Leisure India & South Asia ^[23]Raghavendra Rathore – official website

  

• Rathore’s wife, Kavita Singh, is the daughter of Thakur Uday Bahn Singh of Nana. ^[24]Rediff After his marriage, Raghu said in an interview,
  

  I find myself far more focussed, far more harmonious after I got married. Kavita finetunes me terrifically. Now one feels good coming back to a nest.”

• Prince Raghu also runs The Raghavendra Rathore Foundation, which is an NGO. According to Raghavendra, the foundation works to make the underprivileged people self-reliant by using local resources, arts, and crafts. ^[25]RRF

• The designer has over 30 retail stores across India and abroad such as Goa, New Delhi, Mumbai, Greece, and Hong Kong.

• On 19 March 2015, the Bandhgala designer launched his new ready-to-wear, men-centric designer label, Imperial India Company (IIC), on the Summer/Resort 2015 show in Lakme Fashion Week (LFW). According to Rathore, the IIC is a humanitarian initiative promoting rural handicrafts and his bespoke clothing menswear label. Apparently, IIC uses handloom and fabrics that have a cultural orientation through the Raghavendra Rathore Foundation that gives substantial opportunities to weavers and NGOs to grow along with the brand. ^[26]Hindustan Times

• In 2018, Rathore set up a first-of-its-kind design school in India – The Gurukul School of Design in Jaipur, Rajasthan, in partnership with Amrapali Jewels. The institute offers a four year Bachelor’s degree programme in design. ^[27]FashionNetwork.com

• In the same year, the luxury Italian fashion house Ermenegildo Zegna label and Reliance Industries Group – each purchased a 12.5 per cent stake in Mr Rathore’s Future 101 Design, the parent company of his Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur label. This three-way partnership, according to Rathore, helped his label to expand to international markets. Reportedly, it was a first-of-its-kind deal between a European luxury group and an Indian men’s wear brand. ^[28]The New York Times

• “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur” celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019.