For Rina Dhaka, visuals are more important than words. She did her graduation from Polytechnic by correspondence. After her graduation, she did her internship with Intercraft which was the biggest company at that time. She took training from a well-known Danish designer – Ivan Grundahl. She worked with NIFT when they first came and established and studied there as the first batch. At that time Mutiny and Ensemble were coming up as fashion houses. Rina started designing for these renowned fashion houses. Her designs were well received by the people. This paved the way for her entry into the dynamic fashion world. That was the time when Mr. Rohit Khosla helped her tailor.
Career
Rina got an appreciation for one of her designs for the Miss India event in her early career. This acted as a booster for Rina. Her first show in Singapore “The Best of Indian Haute Couture” was a huge success. Her career has spread over almost three decades now. Her best known theme collections are sheer trousers, crochet, stretch jersey, woolens and spider web motifs. Western wear is her area of dominance, though she also designs ethnic and conventional attire. She attained a lot of success nationally and also achieved accreditation across the globe. Her designs have been featured in various international publications such as Marie Claire Paris, Madame Figaro Paris, Vogue London, Elle, New York Post and Vanity Fair.
Brand And Clientele
Rina Dhaka has launched her collections under the label ‘Rina Dhaka’ which is available at Carma-Delhi, Design Studio-Mumbai, Kimaya-Mumbai, Selfridges-London, Coin-Italy and Lord and Taylor-New York. She has started a studio in Hauz Khas village, Delhi for Lycra. The clientele list of this bold designer includes eminent personalities such as Naomi Campbell, Uma Thruman, Susan Fales Hill, Molly Sims, and Tara Palmer Tomkison.
The ‘Goddess of Oomph’ of Indian fashion, designer Rina Dhaka styles clothes with fun. She has experience not only in western designs but also in the Separates and Theme collections. Rina feels that globalization has opened up avenues for young and dynamic women designers. To meet with the demand for comfortable, yet stylish outfits for offices, designers are trying out all possibilities of being creative. She has expanded the Indian designs with Western knit fabrics.
This amazing fashion designer won the Yuva Ratan award in 1993 and the Best Designer Award at the Miami fashion week in 2004. Later, she has also appeared in a TV show ‘Style and the City’ on Fox Traveler. The show was based on Fashion in India and different cities. In 2015, she was one of the most famous fashion designers in the India Bridal Fashion Week. She also reflects her kind personality by doing various causes. She had inaugurated a school started by her ex – student in Lucknow where girls were empowered in the art of Chikan Kari technique. It is equivalent to learning in big fashion colleges.
She came from a conservative family where these kinds of fashionable things, either for lifestyle or career were not allowed. Dhaka says that when her father came to know about her initial step taken by herself for her fashion career, he didn’t talk to her for about a year. But as she was very clear about her choice and ambition, she decided to go ahead to desire and fulfill her independent living.
Despite suffering the problems a woman in every Indian family does, she faced everything positively and so now today, she is fulfilling her dreams and desires of independent and awesome living!
Rina Dhaka is known for her forte in contemporary designs, but even when it comes to ethnic wear, her designs are brilliant. Always having a modern approach, the one thing that is evident in all her designs is attention to detail. Being recognized internationally, she can be described as a designer for modern women. With every season, she manages to bring freshness to the runway. Keywords like romance, floral, feminine and casual cool are easily associated with her design aesthetics. Rina Dhaka touched upon the darker side of the floral blooms with her Autumn/Winter 2018 edition at Amazon India Fashion Week. According to her, florals are no longer sweet and have accepted their beautiful darker side. The renewed flower motif was accompanied by plaids and lace. The outfits showed unique ways of style print-on-print mix in a chic way. The dark autumn hues took to the runway. Flowing dresses mixed with casual separates made up the lineup. Even menswear had a beautiful balance of formal and casual. Rina Dhaka’s autumn/winter collection merged the feminine side of the collection with the casual – cool vibe of the modernity. Her success mantra is to remain persevering and determined all life because these two are the biggest aspects of success.