Couturier Rahul Mishra’s Spring 2022 Couture collection for the Paris Couture Week was absolutely enchanting and was aptly titled ‘The Enchanted’ as Mishra was in that state of mind when he created the collection.
Often Rahul Mishra escapes to the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand – his second abode for a ‘me time’. Just when he was in the process of creating this couture collection, I was having a conversation with the designer and the passion with which he described the hills gave me an inkling that we will see nature’s unadulterated beauty in his couture collection. Lo-behold, the beauty of Himalayan biodiversity was so craftily captured in this collection. “The butterflies fly through you, sit on your legs and arms, the clouds are flowing past just above your head and the surroundings are so colourful…it is just so irresistible. I am just wondering how to capture the breeze that blows through your face”, said Rahul in one of those ecstatic moods.
Each ensemble was painstaking work of art that may have taken hours and hours of layering, veneer work and delicate appliqué work to resemble a flower that caught Rahul’s eyes. A short dress made of diaphanous petals like appliqué was stunning. In some, the sleeves were shaped like large petals. The long gown captured the entire multi-hued flora and fauna of the valley in intricate handwork.
Rahul Mishra continues with his dramatic bulbous sleeves and adds some psychedelia to it. The psychedelic masked dress was so intricately embroidered that it looked like print-work from afar. Butterflies were appliquéd on a salmon coloured hooded gown as if real butterflies were perched on it. Masked bodysuits with zillion details literally made the ensemble look like nature’s installations. Rahul even captured the morning dew on the Himalayan pastures in his ensembles. Over-the-top silhouettes, bulbous bodices like a flower bud, pant-suits, jackets and flowy gowns in sunrise hue were gorgeous.
The collection is best described by Rahul Mishra in his own words, “A flirtation between layers of reality, imagination and surrealist expression, the pieces of embroidery installations soak-in the spirit of nature and reimagine it.”
Text by Jaydeep Ghosh
Image Courtesy: Rahul Mishra
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