Trust Vir Das to choose the right words for his stand-up acts, for his tweets, and his messages for his fans and go viral for it. But this time the actor-comedian is not trending for something he said, but because of something he wore. Das, who Netflix comedy special Vir Das: For India was nominated for an International Emmy Award, stepped on the red carpet of the award show looking dapper. What made his emseble special was the fact that it was designed by Pradeep Bhatt, a student at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).
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The black buttoned-down jacket with a white kurta and black pants worn by Das was an attempt by the comedian to bring forward the talent of up-and-coming Indian fashion designers. There is more to the suit, Das had earlier stated that he would give the outfit for charity after the event.
Talking more about budding designer, Pradeep Bhatt is a fourth-year student at NIFT, Kangra. Hailing from Haldwani in Uttarakhand, he is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Design. Das’ Emmys outfit is the first outfit he has designed that went public in this sense.
It all started when Bhatt had sent an email to Vir Das as a joke. “Funny that me sending the mail started as a joke, thought nobody would even open my mail, a nobody whose WhatsApp status says “Everybody’s trynna to be famous I’m just trynna find a place to hide” and now we are here. I probably the chosen one. I had made a pact long back with myself that I will never feel pity about and rather use it as my strength,” he wrote on Instagram.
Post the email, Bhatt sent across his portfolio to the commisioner in an informal mail as well. He didn’t expect reply but now that people have taken notice of his design, he says that his design reaching the international stage is “important for people who come from small cities with giant dreams.”
Pradeep Bhatt talked to Brut India and talked about his medical condition Keratoconus, a rare corneal dysfunction, which causes sensitivity to light and glare and blurred vision. He said, “I don’t see one moon. I see some 16-20 moons. What happens is that one moon gets faded into multiple images that mix up somehow.” This talks a lot about his talent. Doesnt it?
Vir Das had tweeted about looking for budding designer back in September. “The predictable thing to do would be to find a swanky Indian stylist/designer and wear one of their outfits (to the Emmys ceremony). It’s all free and kind of foo foo pretentious. It goes against what one wanted to do with ‘Vir Das: For India’. It was about simplicity. We had no stage, no swag, nothing fancy, chilled desi. I bought the whole outfit (juttis included) online for less than two thousand rupees and got a linen kurta shirt made from friends locally. So, I’m gonna wear something by a brand new Indian designer.”
