Renaissance Man

The attitude is not merely the result of the frivolous image that so many designers loathe. Rathore is a member of the erstwhile royal clan of Jodhpur—a cousin of ‘‘Maharaja’’ Gaj Singh—which makes him a non-traditional professional from a traditional world.

“Here in Jodhpur, I’m sure there are people who might ridicule me because I don’t wear a earring or have a particular style of moustache,’’ he says. ‘‘Initially, I saw smirks because designing was perceived as a ladies’ thing. But now they see the value of what I do.’’

Rathore, 37, didn’t set out to be a designer. He went to the US in the mid-’80s to study art and philosophy. But his teachers at Marlboro College, Vermont, noticed that he was ‘‘really good at textures’’ and suggested that he try design.

After he graduated from the prestigious Parsons School of Design in New York in 1992, he apprenticed with Donna Karan, Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta before returning home. He now stocks his clothes in 30 stores across India including Ogaan in Delhi, Kimaya in Mumbai and Ensemble in both cities.

He is also a furniture and interior designer, and the chocolatier behind the brand Les Chocolats de Jodhpore. He runs Jodhpur’s Ajit Bhawan Palace Hotel with his only sibling Suryaveer and their mother, and—in his spare time—paints figurative art.

This month he will open his flagship clothing store in the country in Delhi. It will stock jewellery that marks his first foray into that area of design. And around the same time, Shoppers’ Stop will unveil a label that they are producing in a 50-50 business partnership with him.

“The woman who wears Raghu’s clothes is chic. She wants well-tailored clothing with a twist,” says Tina Tahiliani Parikh of Ensemble. The trademark restraint is a reflection of the kind of person he is—understated, sometimes shy, never flamboyant.

Rathore says he admires fellow designers David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore “for their consistency and their very clear line of thinking”, and de la Renta “for his awesome grandeur”. But for inspiration, he’s more likely to draw on the personal to enrich the professional.

So when he launches his children’s wear in the near future, he will do it with a greater understanding of what parents want—he tells us this even as he feeds a happily gurgling Amar his lunch.

Rathore remembers growing up in a zenana where men were not permitted, and that his mother kept the purdah until his grandfather died in the late 1970s. The colours and sounds of churiwallahs and paanwallahs visiting the women’s quarters at Ajit Bhawan palace are as vivid a memory as school in Mayo College, Ajmer.

He was the first in the family to make the transatlantic trip for higher studies. But when a schoolmate shot himself and Rathore’s parents suggested that he return to Jodhpur, he decided to support himself through college. He earned $8 an hour scraping paint off walls and $3.50 washing dishes in the college dining hall.

Why slum it out when comfort awaited him back home? “It gave me a sense of achievement,” he replies. He learnt to roll up his sleeves from his father Swaroop Singh, once an Independent MLA from Loni constituency in Rajasthan. “When Ajit Bhawan was being converted into a hotel, I remember watching dad get under the beams with the workers. Then in the evening, the ceremonial attire would come out.” His father died last year. The loss is evident when Rathore says, “Nothing surpasses growing with the family.” He balances home and office responsibilities by involving the family in his work.

“My wife Kavita is supportive yet critical,” he says. “I listen to her very carefully.” Amar is their first child. Rathore tells us he might slow down in the coming years because “with my son, I’d like to try to be at least half the father that my dad was with me”.

Brand Rathore may need parenting, but not at the cost of little Amar.