Rina Dhaka

One of the pioneering Indian fashion designers during the Eighties- Rina Dhaka transformed the nation's fashion industry with her avant-garde designs. She is an ardent believer in sustainable development and while the ambassador of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India, she advocated for laws and governance against animal cruelty.

One of the pioneering Indian fashion designers during the Eighties- Rina Dhaka transformed the nation into an epicenter of avant-garde fashion design. That is no small feat, considering that her fashion label is self-financed. While a brooding intellectual quality evolved as the hallmark of Indian designers Dhaka continually balances it with her contemporary "style vs. sexiness" design aesthetic. Today her stellar clientele includes Naomi Campbell, Uma Thurman, Tara Palmer Tomlinson and Vittorio Radice to name a few.

Rina Dhaka is a regular participant at Indian fashion weeks and is popular as a designer for intelligent fashion- conscious women. "It is important to participate in fashion weeks because we showcase our design to the media within India, Asia and even overseas as well as to the customers who come to place order with us based on those styles. It is a trade event. However the essential need of the hour is partnership with private sectors or the business heads with fashion designers and their factories; essentially the marriage of the factory, designer and investor" she tells Explosive Fashion.

Interestingly Rina Dhaka is referred to as Gautier of East by BBC as she is a fashion crusader whose trademark lies in combining traditional Indian garments with twentieth-century modern fabrics like Lycra and jersey. In the 1990s she made headlines with a traditional Indian churidar made from spandex. In 2009, she was part of a group of designers who designed sexy beachwear for women- something that had not been done in Indian fashion before. 

“Having been a knitwear student, to make Indian clothes sexy became my mantra. When I was getting engaged in the 1990s, a churidar was bigger than me in height and size! Hence I created it by making an adaptation of the catsuit. I also used knitted fabrics in most of the Indian traditional clothing, and learnt how to embroider on them" she told Society Achievers. "Back then, in the late 1980s, early 1990s, I was the only one who did this and used this style. The lycra churidar, which you see on everybody’s legs today, came about as my invention. I could not patent it. The patent office was at a distant place in Kolkata and I was also told that after a period of time, the patent would expire.”

In 2019 Rina Dhaka collaborated with a Plus Size Store and launched a collection for maternity wear. And the following year she collaborated with sustainable manufacturer LIVA for the collection- Sustainable Romanticism. She is an ardent believer in sustainable development and while the ambassador of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India, she advocated for laws and governance against animal cruelty.

“I love fashion. I also love animals and the planet. And that’s why I don’t use leather in my designs,” Rina Dhaka says in the PSA. “If you buy leather, remember: there’s no easy way to tell whose skin you’re really in … Vegan leather and other leather-free options can be found just about anywhere you shop. So please, be beautiful in your own skin. And let animals keep theirs."

Rina Dhaka also has a number of awards to her credit. She won the Yuva Ratan award in 1993. In 2004 Dhaka won Best Designer award at Miami Fashion Week. She has also been honoured with the titles of Best Women Entrepreneur in 2014 by the state government of Delhi in the presence of then chief minister of Delhi: Mrs. Sheila Dikshit. The biggest career milestone however was when she was awarded the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Award in 2017.

Rina Dhaka is an ardent believer in the sustainable development of fashion, and while the ambassador of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India, she advocated for laws and governance against animal cruelty. Dhaka partnered with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals to campaign against the use of leather in the fashion industry. “I love fashion, I also love animals and the planet" she said in her video for PETA, shared on her Facebook page. "And that's why I don't use leather in my designs. If you buy leather, remember: there's no easy way to tell whose skin you're really in…. Vegan leather and other leather-free options can be found just about anywhere you shop. So please, be beautiful in your own skin. And let animals keep theirs."

Indian fashion designer Rina Dhaka envisioned herself as a fashion crusader whose trademark lies in combining traditional Indian garments with twentieth century modern fabrics like Lycra and jersey. Rina Dhaka's designs are also distinguished by her use of both traditional and modern fabrics, with an increasing emphasis on sustainability and on sustaining traditional textile craft.

Rina Dhaka retails stylish- flattering womenswear. She is most famous for reinventing the traditional Indian churidaar in jersey and Lycra. Her work is exhibited across the world at The Louvre, Paris; The Metropolitan Museum, New York; London; Mauritius; South Africa; Dubai; Singapore; Hong Kong and the United States. She also retails from her boutique at DLF Emporio apart from Anthropology- USA; Indomix - USA; Lodenfrey- Munich; Fine Rhine- Hong Kong and multi- designer stores in India.

The fashion designer's Spring Summer 2018 showing made headlines. Per Explosive Fashion: "There was the handloom lightness of the Ikat maxi dress, the navy shibori sun-dress and the white and black sheath with tribal embroideries. There was also the light play of ruffles, lace insets, shibori tie-dye and tribal cubical motifs. But maybe the most important reading of "light" had to do with tone: there was a lightness of spirit in bohemian looks. Come summer, style-conscious girls — who are confident of mixing textures, embroideries and ruffles — will be swapping their skinny jeans for sun dresses, ruffled sheaths, maxis and embroidered blouses if Dhaka has her way."

The Delhi-based designer's showing at Pune fashion Week was another milestone. “When the opening look came out, it was evident to me that the designer was showcasing her love for jewellery, through her ensembles — mixing metallics, blending them together” per Explosive Fashion. "Dhaka had employed special techniques of using foil on chiffons, to create a metallic backdrop. Jewellery motifs were adopted and taken inspiration from, and edged with pearls, to showcase the dazzle of bijoux jewellery, on the garments. Hot-sellers included the off-shoulder velvet full-sleeve top with metallic flowers offset by pearls, worn with a sheer black skirt; the bronze sari with a delicate lace pallav and flared skirt; the dhoti skirts; th shara pants."