Rahul Mishra Returns To Paris Couture Week With 'We The People'
The first Indian designer to show at Paris Couture Week, Mishra's latest collection champions the creative potential of humanity
Being the first designer from India to show at Paris Couture Week must be a pretty intimidating legacy to bear, but Rahul Mishra has seemingly managed to pull it off with ease each and every season. For Fall/Winter 2023, Mishra looked to his home subcontinent for inspiration together with jewellery partner Tanishq, paying tribute to the dedicated artisans who have made it a go-to destination for some of the most intricate, awestruck designs the world has seen to date. And while designers from all walks of life around the world have sought to travel to India for inspiration, few can call it home - and even fewer are able to capture its beauty so carefully in their creations.
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Mishra's "We The People" collection honours the timeless traditions of India in gorgeous detail, from the most voluminous flower-like vest down to the thinnest silk thread. A reflection on both the arduous process of creating couture and the imaginative power that manifests once one's creation is finished, the collection also reiterates the brand's commitment to slow fashion and building a more circular economy by refocusing time and attention on smaller, local village communities of artisans, rather than the overcrowded factories which fuel the fast fashion business each and every day. Mishra also called on Russian-French artist Erté for inspiration, painstakingly layering bustier tops and dresses with slender petals to create elongated and elegant silhouettes, each of which took an average of over three thousand hours to bring to life.
And what remains most wondrous about Rahul Mishra isn't just his penchant for the wild and the imaginative, which is a core tenet of any couture collection. It's his never-ending dedication to the celebration of culture, and not just his own. It's his ability to weave his way into the cultural fabric at large, fashioned in a way which doesn't feel trivial or tokenistic at all. Taken in the context of the peaceful courtyard of La Monnaie de Paris on a Monday afternoon, it's safe to say "We The People" was a celebration of humanity as a whole - and all the brilliant, most beautiful things we humans can do when we come together to reach our full potential. Scroll ahead to see all the looks from the Rahul Mishra Fall 2023 couture collection.
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