Rahul Mishra Haute Couture: Florals and hope and love

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by Shreya S

With his signature floral embroidery and a fresh approach towards couture Rahul Mishra is on the way to cement himself as a couturier. Rahul Mishra does create stunning, almost dreamy clothes. Clothes are a small word to describe it though, it is equivalent to a piece of art that you fear putting out. Intricately and artfully crafted, his two collections for Haute Couture Paris fashion week were magnificent.

A bit of backstory on Mishra, the first Indian designer to present at Paris Haute Couture week. In 2009, he became the first non-European designer to win a scholarship at Istituto Marangoni, Milan, Italy. In February 2014, Rahul Mishra was the first Indian to win the 2014 Woolmark Prize at Milan Fashion previously won by Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani, and Yves Saint Laurent. His work involves the finest of hand-woven, hand-embroidered and handcrafted pieces and emphasis to push Indian craft techniques in new directions. Each of his couture pieces takes almost 3,000 to 4,000 hours to make along with generating employment for artisans and embroiders. “My objective is to create jobs which help people in their villages; I take work to them rather than calling them to work for me. If villages are stronger you will have a stronger country, a stronger nation, and a stronger world. My entire philosophy revolves around that. The product will go through evolution — it will change, improve — but the philosophy is constant. “said Mishra in an interview with CNBC.

Already a master of Indian Couture (Bridal lehengas, sarees, kurtas, etc), his Paris Couture collections are evidently more westernized. It is interesting to note the general variation in the price points of Indian and Paris Couture, Indian being significantly higher. This probably because it’s mostly bridal/festive Couture but it does point to the spending capacity in the Indian luxury market.

For his Spring 2020 Couture, he played around with the concepts of underwater life and nature. Starting with some ethereal white looks gradually moving on to bright yellows and blues, each artfully embroidered and carefully put together. Each of his pieces screams luxury but in a more charming way.“I don’t know if I need to make and sell another black jacket; the idea is to be less volume-centric while taking care of people.” He said to Vogue.

For this Fall 2020 Couture, he questioned the meaning of these (pandemic) times. A warmer color palette this time with equally exquisite work and detail with butterflies being the highlight. It was a bit more floral, a bit more colorful, and featured the most gorgeous face masks.

Mishra’s work has been rightfully applauded and he is one to look out for. Representing the mastery of Indian artisans and giving them a platform they well deserve whilst influencing the stereotypical notions of Indian fashion. His work speaks for itself.

Rahul Mishra Spring Haute Couture 2020