The young Indian designer known for his slow fashion, 3D embroidery, obsession with flowers and air and architecture, the first to take Indian couture to Paris consistently, is now all set to create a ready-to-wear brand with one of India’s largest private companies. Rahul Mishra has been a big part of new India’s fashion story, as has retail giant, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL). In fact, this announcement — of the 60:40 joint venture between RBL and Mishra — comes while fashion critics are still deconstructing the tiers of petals and voluminous sleeves in his Paris Couture Week Spring 2022 show from January 26. Meanwhile, RBL has been on a JV spree since 2018, partnering with Indian fashion’s biggest names: Satya Paul, Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna and Raghavendra Rathore.
How will the young prince of slow fashion and couture walk the line between streetwear and luxury, mass and elite? “We will never do fast fashion,” says Mishra emphatically on a video call with The Hindu Weekend. “It is a collection that will tick all boxes in my heart — it will be about mindful fashion, sustainability, and inclusivity.” Being sustainable, he adds, is about building timeless clothes that are “seasonless and trendless”. Incidentally, both are post-pandemic fashion keywords. “The biggest facet of slow fashion is ‘how long can it stay in your wardrobe?’ It’s about giving access to your customer to wear a garment 30 days in a year and to then pass it down to the next generation,” he adds.
Expect ‘easy to wear’ separates
Mishra, 42, is known for his painterly aesthetic and true to life embroideries, his sheer panels, appliqué and dori work. He quotes Rumi and in the past has found inspiration in Henri Rousseau, Van Gogh and Claude Monet. So when he says ideas from his couture collections will cross pollinate into this RTW line, expectations are high. For now, he says he would rather refer to it as an “easy-to-wear” line of separates, with strong Indian craftsmanship, which one can mix and match with anything, like denims… and can fearlessly put through a washing machine. Since it’s not a couture line, it will be part handcrafted and part machine-made; since it’s not custom made, various sizes will be available.
While they will begin with an RTW line, it is all open-ended and with no restricted mandates or timelines. There are no full stops, he insists. This is seconded by RBL MD Darshan Mehta, who has joined him on this interview. Mehta hints that Mishra could be designing sportswear, sleepwear or home; Mishra says it could be beauty or jewellery, accessories or footwear — even something beyond the “lifestyle” space. And it could take anywhere from six months to a year to launch the line.
Also read | Rahul Mishra’s message in a bubble
Collaborations are not new for Mishra — whether it’s his runaway success with footwear brands like Fizzy Goblet or Oceedee, or his debut jewellery line with Swarovski — and each project is a creative process to be enjoyed, he says.
Walking on the slippery path of scale
But doesn’t a JV like this also mean a mass-market approach? Scale is subjective, says Mishra. “If it creates better value and better accessibility for the customer, it’s not bad.”
As an example of how they are not really big on numbers, Mehta recalls a Reliance JV with luxury Italian menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna 11 years ago, and later with luxury Italian sportswear brand Paul & Shark. They have only opened four stores each since, he says. Nine years ago, they built their first Giorgio Armani store, and till date that remains the only one in India. ‘‘At one point, it was about how a hydrocarbons company [was] getting into fashion. Then it was about volumes and numbers. But as you can see, we are not always about numbers!’’ he protests.
Mishra joins in saying he too had that “numbers” mindset about Reliance but did a lot of research and found the underlying “care, respect, patience and perseverance” of the brand. It’s a joint venture that’s evolved after over 3.5 years of discussions, he admits.
‘RBL will be enabler, not pusher’
Mishra says that in the last two years, his couture business has doubled. In 2020, he became the first Indian designer to showcase at Paris Haute Couture Week, and went on to impress critics across five seasons. He has been busy building his brand and according to Vogue magazine, last year saw him on 20 magazine covers in China alone!
But he also gently reminds us of his roots — his debut in 2006 at Lakme Fashion Week, and how his journey with global RTW lines started at Paris Fashion Week in 2015 and grew from strength to strength in a showcase over 13 seasons. He’s been retailing at stores across the world, including Colette in Paris, 10 Corso Como in Milan, Harvey Nichols in London, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, David Jones in Australia, Joyce in China, and the likes of Moda Operandi and Farfetch with online retail. “I have built critically acclaimed work, which has sold,” he says. He now has a 50,000 sq ft factory in Noida and a team of 300, not including the hundreds of weavers who contribute from their villages.
Darshan likes to believe RBL will be powerful enabler, not pusher, in the relationship that will see flagship stores in major fashion capitals. “Rahul has a strong beating heart for design,” he points out, reiterating that he respects his ethos and clever business sense. “If he didn’t have it, he wouldn’t be able to nurture a brand for 15 years! We will be the bouncing board. We have a strong marketing flywheel; we understand everything from supply chain all the way to retail chain,” RBL’s chief concludes.
