Exclusive: A Delightful Walk Through Designer Rahul Mishra’s ‘The Enchanted Garden’ Showcase, His Vision For Responsible Fashion, And An Ode To Nature
Rahul Mishra’s stunning collection for FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week 2022’s opening showcase was nothing short of a floral paradise, with a name that fitted the designs exactly well– ‘The Enchanted Garden.’ Flagging off the week of glam in Delhi, Rahul Mishra returned to his home territory–nature, with his latest collection that unfolded like a poetry of flowers, gracing the creative construction and silhouettes. And taking me through his latest line-up, the designer opened up about the inspiration behind, his forever design muse–nature, fashion that is responsible and more.
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Q. Share with us the inspiration behind your collection, that graced the opening show at FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week.
Rahul Mishra: I remember from my time in Italy, the way natural landscape meanders into homes through kitchen gardens, with outdoor lunches and conversations in flower laden patios – looking out to valleys of unfiltered wilderness. I remember countryside palazzos made in hard stone, not as imposing structures but houses adorned with colourful gardens, windows dressed with mimosas and cobbled walkways lined with peonies. Fields of sunflowers, chrysanthemums and buttercups soaked in morning dew. This collection is a representation of this fantasy home that I had wished to build in the Himalayas where nature interacts with the space inside and out. Where the golden sun enters the home just as it rises and leaves when it sets in vermillion. A small garden with flowers, fruits and vegetables tended to by my family and I. This is my definition of luxury — a slow life of peace and calm.
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Q. You’ve mentioned that fashion is a “responsible thing,” what is that one dialogue you wish to voice out through each of your designs. What is that one change in the world you’re looking at?
Rahul Mishra: There are many problems with the fashion industry but one fundamental issue that we seek to address since the inception of the brand is sustenance of systems. I think when you are at the helm of a fashion brand, it is imperative to take responsibility for those that you employ. I see a vast improvement in terms of awareness about these issues but there is still a long way to go in terms of action. Personally, it has always had a greater sense of purpose to employing and empowering craftsmen and enabling them to lead a better life, than the clothes that we make and the appreciation and success that is returned.
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Q. You are gearing up for an affordable, ready to wear line in collaboration with Reliance Brands Limited. What is the aim you wish to achieve through that collaborative experience?
Rahul Mishra: Yes, we are very excited to join hands with Reliance Brands Limited and anticipate seeing our collaborative effort to fruition. RBL has the knowhow and expertise that they bring to the table and I am eager to have the best minds in the industry working on this new line. We aim to primarily create a line focused on inclusivity in terms of feasibility and longevity. We also aim to translate our design language that has been focused only on couture for years into pieces that can be worn regularly, everyday. Our clothes can find more people and Rahul Mishra as a brand can become a part of someone’s everyday life rather than for special occasions.
Q. You have always rooted for fashion that is versatile. Why is it important to at times step away from crowd funded trends? What is that one element then, that bridges the gap between your designs and the takers?
Rahul Mishra: People are becoming more inclined to wearing pieces that hold a sense of personal expression, instead of what is trendy, as well as looking at more environmentally conscious and handcrafted options.
I have always sought to create clothes that are versatile and hold a sense of longevity. There is a bit of contradiction that comes into play with couture, since these are pieces intended for occasion wear, but I truly believe that we create couture pieces that can be worn as separates and I urge our clientele to do the same. We create fashion independent of trends and seasons, clothes that find the same relevance in someone’s wardrobe even years after they were purchased.
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Q. Your designs reflect the world around. What makes nature always a home you are willing to return to, in terms of your designs?
Rahul Mishra: I think nature is a never ending bank for inspiration. Everything as we know it, has come from nature. What I retain from personal memories and firsthand experiences of mine, finds its way into our collections, be it tiny wildflowers, clouds in a blue sky, and landscapes etc. In this collection I have delved deeper into the study of botany and florals, as well as entire landscapes, playing with scale and texture. In doing so, intimate details have come to the spotlight through our embroidery.
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Q. Which element in your collection, perhaps every piece serves as the narrator of your design story?
Rahul Mishra: I think our colourful, two and three dimensional embroideries are the best embodiment of our design story. It is a concept that I think people most relate the brand Rahul Mishra to and at the same it has become a medium for us to translate our ideas and vision, in a way that is ever-evolving. It really is at the core of our design language. It may be aiming to imitate nature or creating something of a fantasy, it is identifiable as the work we have been showcasing recently.
Q. Elaborating more about the collection, which you mentioned is a flirtation between first hand experiences and fantastical imagination, what is it that you want to deliver to the wearer through this collection?
Rahul Mishra: I actively seek inspiration from my personal experiences and aspirations. And those thoughts, fuelled with imaginative representation and our hand craft techniques translate into the kind of pieces that we create. I have wanted to create a studio home in the Himalayas for a while now and that dream home is a reflection of my past experiences from the places I’ve visited and how they stayed with me all these years. Especially my time in Italy, when I studied in Milano, the cultural inferences, the way natural landscape meanders into their homes through kitchen gardens and flower laden open patios has influenced my point of view.
A concoctions of philosophies, experiences and cultures I have absorbed from my multiple travels have built this mood board in my head translating into a fantasy that I aim to show in my clothes. This is the flow of thoughts that one begins the collection with, and when the dream is shared with the team it gains its momentum and surfaces as the product.
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Q. The collection showcase took place at the Italian Embassy in Delhi. Tell us the idea behind the choice of location.
Rahul Mishra: When I had been living in Italy as a design student, a lot of my experiences shaped the way I perceive fashion, design and life in general. All my experiences of wandering to small nooks and corners, of speaking with the locals and exploring the cuisine – living a life that is rich with emotion and intensity has inherently shaped me. It’s about the way in Italy, nature simply co-exists with the architecture, with magnificent art by the likes of Botticelli and Caravaggio and and florists like Mario Nuzzi and almost becomes ‘one’ with it. I believe that in a lot of ways, nature also conserves the history of Italy. The kind of vegetation, the clear sky and the soft sun continue to create the same kind of magic that, I imagine, would exist a few centuries ago. It’s the way landscape meanders into people’s homes, and the way they surround themselves with nature that I find the most inspiring.
I still remember my afternoons at Parco Sempione in Milan, sitting amidst nature under the sun. Sketching life around me and while observing it, also living it. It’s these kinds of unsaid feelings, the instances in my mind, that have stayed with me and shaped me into the person that I am today.
To be showcasing at the Embassy of Italy in India came with a great sense of nostalgia and love for the values I have retained from my time there. It filled my heart to come home to Italy with the brand’s first physical showcase in more than 2 years. We had been looking forward to greeting our friends and family alongside the Embassy and having them witness our garments in life.
Image Credits: Instagram
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