Rahul Mishra’s career trajectory is dotted with many impressive firsts. In 2014, Mishra made history as the first Indian designer to bring home the prestigious International Woolmark Prize. Less than a decade later, in 2020, he became the first Indian couturier to secure a spot on the Paris Haute Couture Week calendar. Today, Mishra, who is known world over for his ability to tell compelling tales through the country’s crafts, attributes each of these accolades to a quality that he cultivated very early on in life–curiosity.

Growing up in the lush, languid village of Dalhousie, the designer spent his formative years soaking in everything around him with an immense amount of awe and intrigue. “As a young child, you’re not really looking at things the way a designer would, you’re just curious and in wonderment,” he reflects. Ahead, Mishra shares how, even several years later, he retains this childlike sense of wonder, and instils it not just in his designs but also in the craftsmen that bring his creations to life.

Haute nature

Curiosity, explains Mishra, has always fuelled his creative process. It’s what triggers his imagination and urges him to seek stories in the most unexpected places. “It’s easy to source the techniques of India but the key ingredient is the storytelling. As a curious person, I try finding stories everywhere I go,” says Mishra. Nature, for the couturier, has been a subject of endless fascination. Through the use of the most exquisite Indian hand-embroidery, Mishra has, season after season, converted the simplest sights that surround him into couture that’s coveted by celebrities across the globe. While his Spring 2021 couture line-up, The Dawn, captured the key characteristics of mushrooms, The Tree of Life collection, spotted on the likes of Cate Blanchett and Viola Davis, drew inspiration from a majestic Banyan tree across his childhood home.

However, in Mishra’s creations nature is rarely served solo–it’s often accompanied by a side of nostalgia, an affinity for art or a bit of both. This knack for seamlessly stitching together varied themes is evident in The Shape of Air collection—which merged memories from a holiday in Santorini with the insights of Impressionist Claude Monet—but it’s most palpable in the designer’s latest offering. Titled Cosmos, Mishra’s Spring 2023 couture collection, showcased earlier this year at The Westin Hotel in Paris, saw models walk the ramp in a diverse range of garments that bore both earthly and celestial motifs.

“We tried to depict the cosmos in a pictorial way, and create a collage of all that it stands for. So, in the collection, we’ve taken inspiration from jungles, oceans, outer space and even cities,” says Mishra of the many elements on his moodboard. Some of the star styles of the line-up included an ankle-length jacket with an upside-down cityscape at its ruffled hem, a glittering black gown dotted with gilded ladybugs and a gossamer dress that brought together, in complete harmony, jellyfish, planets and stardust. “Everything, including us, is essentially a mini version of the macro cosmos. It’s a complex story that poses more questions than it answers, and this was only the first leg of the puzzle,” says Mishra.

Coming together

Solving mysteries of this magnitude, and distilling them into garments is a gargantuan task, one that can’t be tackled single-handedly. Crucial to the plot of Cosmos—and every collection that Mishra has created till date—are the country’s craftsmen. “Craftsmen from different corners of India come together to create clothes which are presented in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world,” he says, highlighting that his work, above all else, is rooted in inclusivity and participation. Since the early phases of his career, the designer, in an effort to ensure that craftsmen aren’t compelled to migrate to large cities, has taken work to their doorsteps.

“Currently, close to 70 per cent of our work is done in villages, and we want to keep increasing this number. For me the success of fashion—or anything else for that matter—depends entirely on how much it helps people,” he says. But Mishra’s responsibilities extend far beyond preserving the current skill set of craftsmen. The designer, for a long time now, has also placed an emphasis on experimenting and exploring uncharted territory. With each new collection, at least five new techniques, textures and shapes are added to the mix, igniting both intrigue and excitement in the artisans. “A craftsman who keeps doing the same work repeatedly can eventually start to feel like a machine. To keep this from happening, not only do we develop our existing techniques further, but we also take on challenges with each collection, and this gives everyone a new purpose,” says Mishra.

The path ahead

If you consciously try to keep curiosity at the core of all that you do, even the slightest semblance of complacency is unlikely to set in. The evidence of this lies in the plans that Mishra—who, at 43, has already checked off many major career milestones—has laid out for the future. Apart from a new ready-to-wear label which launches soon, the designer wants to ensure that his team, which is currently made of over 1,000 people, grows tenfold. But, most importantly, he wants to continue to creatively add to his body of work. “Even though I just completed my 20th showcase in Paris, I feel like I'm only just getting started. There’s still so much to explore and do. The universe is a giant piece of poetry, and I only want to add a verse to it. Creating that verse and perfecting it is an ongoing process,” he says.

‘India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination’ is curated by British author, journalist  and costume expert Hamish Bowles, and designed by Patrick Kinmonth with Rooshad Shroff. The exhibit will be on view at Pavilion 1, Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai, from April 3 to June 4, 2023.