A Woman's Touch: Rupal Banerjee's Designs are for the Female Gaze
Rupal Banerjee started her cult-favorite namesake clothing brand, Ru by Rupal, at just 20 years old—but the wunderkind’s designer dreams had been brewing for over a decade. One of her earliest memories is watching her father hand-sew puppets for a school project at their dining room table. The young creative was captivated. “I tapped him, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, teach me to sew,’” she recalls. Little did either of them know that this spark would light the fuse of her future career.
While Banerjee first applied her skills to stitching new dresses for her Barbie dolls, it wasn’t long before she was sketching runway-ready looks inspired by the fabrics, silhouettes, and gold jewelry that characterized her Indian heritage. The California-native headed to Parsons School of Design to study fashion design, but quickly switched majors to PR & Marketing. Even as a teenager, she knew she would have to back up her talent with business savvy if she wanted to succeed in the competitive fashion scene—and succeed, she did. From showing at NYFW to garnering a star-studded clientele that counts Kehlani, Kali Uchis, and Jordyn Woods among its numbers, Banerjee’s brand has fast-tracked through several career-making milestones. She was even named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 this year.
The 25-year-old is, however, incredibly humble about her achievements so far. She credits her parents’ example for allowing her to get to where she is today, as she watched them toil to build a life for their family in the U.S. after immigrating from India. Her Fall/Winter 2024 collection, “Fall In Love with the Roots Before the Flowers,” pays homage to them by tapping into ‘90s corp-core, blending remixed workwear (think flirty knotted blazers and deconstructed trousers) with South-Asian references such as pleats and drapes. The designer shot the lookbook in the very office building where she and her siblings would spend afternoons and weekends when her parents couldn’t secure a babysitter—now, her mom and dad own the company.
This isn’t the first time Banerjee has referenced her family in her designs, but it’s one of the most meaningful for her. Like most children of immigrants, the budding creative felt pressure to pursue a practical career. “My parents actually severed ties with me when I started my brand,” she admits. “So it's a very full circle moment to be able to show them that I created this [collection] with them in mind. I would be nowhere without the understanding of the hard work that they’ve [instilled in] me.”
With five years of running Ru by Rupal under her belt, the powerhouse looks forward to expanding her biz even further—whether that means exciting new collabs or a collection that’s entirely different from what’s come before. Through it all, she’ll continue to strive to make garments that empower women who are fearlessly going after what they want. For Banerjee, there’s no other way to live.
“In this space where there's no guidebook on how to get to the end, or even start. My motto is always 'If you're scared of it, you have to do it,' because I promise you that discomfort will make you grow more than anything."
Closing out Women’s History Month, Highsnobiety sits down with Banerjee to discuss the brand’s guiding mission, finding inspiration in one’s roots, and the details behind her riveting new collection.
Highsnobiety: Who is the Ru by Rupal woman? How do you want women to feel when they put on your designs?
Rupal Banerjee: The Ru by Rupal woman is definitely a strong, entrepreneurial type who has a lot of confidence and conviction in whatever they're doing. They're very sure of themselves. I think the garments put you in that headspace. You see a lot of strength in each piece and also in the visuals that I put out there [through my] campaigns and creative direction. It's very bold. You can't avoid seeing it, essentially.
I want every woman to also have that same embodiment when they are wearing my garments or representing the brand in any way. That's why the women that I've worked with, I’ve personally chosen to represent the brand because they have all these really beautiful qualities. I've worked with Kehlani, and I’ve also worked with Aleali May. There's a very similar message between them. They're very strong female leads in male-dominated spaces. It’s always been about making sure women are heard and making sure they are creating space for themselves.
HS: I think that comes through with your design aesthetic. It’s like you said earlier, each garment is bold. It’s about taking up space as women, and that message is woven into not only the fabric of your brand identity but also the designs.
RB: Definitely. One of my mottos is: ‘If you're scared of it, you have to do it.” That's how I navigate fear. In this space where there's no guidebook on how to get to the end, or even start, it's always “If you're scared of it, you have to do it,” because I promise you that discomfort will make you grow more than anything.
HS: Let's get into the latest collection (FW24), can you share what some of the inspiration points and influences were for you?
RB: This one was really personal. There's been a lot of personal growth in the last nine months of my life. And a big part of that was making sure I was holding on to what was real. That led me back to understanding that you have to fall in love with yourself over and over again—throughout your life sometimes—because there are new versions of you, and [you have to] redevelop a stronger sense of self-worth.
As women, we're constantly compared to the rest of the world, constantly told to do the opposite of everything, but also the same as everything, at the same time. Then you start to wonder what is right and what is wrong. So for me, the title of the collection was “Fall In Love With the Roots Before the Flowers.” I went back [with the intention of] trying to understand my familial roots, while also tapping into the corporate-wear and the working woman in terms of aesthetics. We saw that corp-core was a big part of fashion in the last six months. And I wanted to make sure I was representing that from my South-Asian lens.
HS: That’s really beautiful. How do the collection's inspiration points differ from or compare to the campaign? What was the development process like for this season’s visuals?
RB: The imagery for this collection was actually shot in the office that my parents worked at when I was growing up because we didn't have money for a babysitter. We were running around the halls on the weekends because they had to work overtime as immigrants in this country—just trying to make something of themselves. What's really beautiful is that the collection really celebrates the importance of hard work. My mom would bring us into her work, and now she and my dad own the company that they used to work at.
My mom is my biggest inspiration. This collection references some photos of her too, from her wedding to be exact. You'll see that in that red molded bodice. Even in the campaign imagery, if you zoom into the background, there are a couple of photos of my mom and dad from when they were younger. I really wanted to celebrate how the fruits of their labor showed up because that is the dream for so many immigrant households. I was born in India. They showed up to America with two kids, and I wanted to make sure they felt celebrated in this process.
HS: This is such a strong and important statement. It will resonate with so many people. It’s something that many have to navigate, strangely even to this day, we are all fighting for our piece of the American dream. We are all trying to make the hard work of our parents and ancestors not be in vain.
RB: What's also really cool about referencing that corporate wear in this collection is that South-Asians, Indian people, and most people from that side of the world are chasing practical/corporate jobs usually. My family wanted me to chase that practical job as well, and I didn't do that. That was the big force that led to creating my brand. My parents actually severed ties with me when I started my brand. So, it's a very full circle moment to be able to show them that I created this [collection] with them in mind. I would be nowhere without the understanding of the hard work that they’ve [instilled in] me.
HS: We’ve discussed references and inspiration points. Now, I’d love to hear more about the technical side of your designs and how your South-Asian heritage manifests in your construction.
RB: We see a lot of pleats in some of these pieces, like the dark denim set with a tie-dye print. Tie-dye is a big part of the South-Asian printmaking processes, and indigo as well. That’s why the set, specifically, has the Indigo-ish styled prints going on there—and then it also has pleats on it. The pleats are a big part of the traditional Indian garb, which is saris and drapes. This is also the first season I did less mesh and more structure. It's really referencing ‘90s Indian corporate wear because even in India, they go to work with button-down shirts and a couple of pens in their pocket. And those thin-framed glasses are very common too. It's essentially representing the Indian nerd, but there are also aspects like that red molded top with the matching skirt, which refers to my mom's wedding outfit. In all my collections, I honestly try to represent a bride in some way. It's a beautiful part of the culture and Indian weddings.
HS: What do you want the fashion community at large to take away from this collection?
RB: This new collection is different from anything I've done in the past. It's something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. However there is a complex understanding between scalability and the artistic part of fashion. That's something I'm constantly juggling with as a creative. We still have to pay rent every month, and we still have to make money from the pieces. So this season, that's why I shifted in a direction that I personally wanted to go in for a long time. A big part of that is making sure that I'm representing my personal style as best as I can.
I think for me, the past collections were great, but this is the most me that I've ever been in my life. I want people to see that as well. I want people to understand that they're seeing something that's created from myself and from the roots of who I am. I really want the takeaway from this collection for the fashion community to be that South-Asian women can be represented in this fashion space. I've noticed that I'm often the only South-Asian woman in any fashion room. I feel very lucky to be able to represent my people and myself in that way, but I think it goes to show that we need a little bit more inclusivity in this space. Most importantly, I want everyone to take away the cultural aspects, the power of women, and the ability to represent multiple sides of yourself through garments. Of course, I want them to have a very emotional experience when it comes to seeing all the visuals from the collection as well.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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