There are many ways to mark 15 years in fashion. You could look back, pull out the archives and celebrate the greatest hits. Or, if you’re Kunal Rawal, you create an AI crow for a music universe and turn Shubh Muhurat into an entire runway ritual. At India Couture Week 2026, across 150 looks, Rawalgarh revisits the signatures that have shaped the label, while keeping its sights firmly on what comes next.
It’s a thought that sits at the heart of Rawalgarh: knowing where you come from without feeling the need to leave everything as it was. Rawal started DStress at nineteen, long before Kunal Rawal became an established menswear label. Experimentation and legacy have never been opposing forces for him. Comfort, functionality and Indian tradition remain central to his approach, while Rawalgarh brings military, grunge, tailoring and sport into the mix. His father’s wardrobe of denims, suede, velvet and workwear, alongside the visual language of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, became an early influence. LaserDisc introduced him to cinema as a world of clothes, characters, music and mood. That instinct extends into the AI-powered Rawalgarh Di Jugni music video, where a crow guides viewers through its imagined universe.
“I love traditionalism; I just don’t believe it has to remain untouched.”
The fantasy, however, is grounded in the practicalities of getting dressed. Especially when wedding season calls for a wardrobe that can keep up. A look can move from roka to sangeet with a change of layer, while the same handwork can be styled six ways or old embroidery refurbished into a new ensemble. Even the deconstructed sherwani keeps its presence without getting in the way of a dance floor. In Rawalgarh, heritage isn’t something to preserve behind glass; it’s something to wear, rework and sometimes challenge.
The Magnet Stole is a case in point. Born from Rawal’s frustration with adjusting a traditional stole, it stays put through a baraat, pheras and endless photographs. Elsewhere, Morse code, braille messages and glow-in-the-dark elements bring a more personal layer to the garments. “Privacy, to me, is one of the greatest luxuries today.” His design boundaries are just as clear: exaggerated motifs, excessive shine, brooches and feathers rarely make the cut, though “never say never.” Next on his mind is headgear, with ambitions beyond weddings and into evening and casual wardrobes.
Fifteen years in, Rawalgarh is less interested in looking back than in seeing what its established codes can do next. As Rawal puts it, “I think menswear gets more interesting when you take something familiar out of the context it has always belonged to.” For him, tradition isn’t a finish line. It’s where the next idea begins.
