The Designer
The “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur” brand stitches bucolic simplicity with classic panache creating dynamic synergy that threads traditional elegance with contemporary chic. Intrinsically inspired by aesthetics bestowed upon him by his rich historical & cultural inheritance, Raghavendra Rathore is the quintessential man behind the brand. Bespoke clothing leads the cavalcade of his multifaceted designing capabilities that include jewelry, interiors & more recently, multimedia.
As a young man just out of school, his creative thirst led him to Vermont where he began his educational pilgrimage by immersing himself into the study of Renaissance art & that of its great masters. He continued on to the renowned & equally selective, Parsons School of Design at New York where a more structured design curriculum strengthened his foundation focusing on the manifestation of “design-through-fashion”.
Soon after, Rathore’s creative proficiency earned him jobs with first, Donna Karan, New York (DKNY) & subsequently, with Oscar de la Renta, two among the most celebrated gurus in world fashion. The dichotomy of their designs & of their target markets, taught him a valuable lesson about the kind of ‘avant-garde flexibility’ consistently required to retail high-fashion products.
A passionate believer in the age-old connection between culture & fashion-it was the cultural manifestation of the need to “dress” that created fashion-he understood the significance of cultural knowledge in a designer’s repertoire & decided to venture deep inside the closets of his rich legacy in search of creativity & inspiration.
In 1994, twenty seven year old Raghavendra Rathore returned home to Jodhpur & launched “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur”, a label he dedicated to his dynasty & the historical city of his birth. With heritage as his inspiration, “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur” began its journey with a small store at New Delhi.
Pure class & classic simplicity began to define his tailoring & his trademark “cut “ enhancing the body-silhouette giving a trim & upright look to all body-types, gained instant eminence.
Raghavendra believes that fashion never dies, it just reinvents itself from era to era, meandering in & out from its original course & adorning generations along the way. This philosophy led him to the arduous challenge of ‘reinventing the wheel’; Rathore resurrected the old Bandhgala jacket & gave it a dashing new avatar. The magic of his style lay in its cuts that added panache to the Bandhgala’s legacy & made it a supreme international garment. Worn by royalty & nobility over generations, the Rathore Classic Bandhgala is now a global fashion statement of elegant class & dapper style.
Today, “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur” is considered the Mecca of custom-made Bandhgala’s & is responsible for Raghavendra Rathore’s name being inked into the pages of Indian fashion history. His label symbolizes culture as much as it does fashion, & the two combine to celebrate our rich heritage. This fact was acknowledged by the Rajasthan state government which honored him with an award for heritage promotion. The “Rathore Look” embodies class & good taste that mirrors regal flamboyance garnering an Indian as well as an international clientele of the highest profile. “Raghavendra Rathore Jodhpur” celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019.