The Indians are not just coming — they have
arrived. Paris fashion week is more Indian than ever, with two designers
from
the subcontinent cementing their place at style’s top table.
Rahul Mishra confirmed his reputation as one of fashion’s rising stars
with
an autumn winter womenswear collection of great restraint and purity.
In contrast, the never less-than-spectacular Manish Arora bathed in the
glory of being awarded one of France’s highest honours by filling his
catwalk
with celebrity models that included the artist Sophie Calle.
The two designers could not be more different, yet both were as far from
the subcontinental cliches of saris and sequins as you can imagine.
Arora, a Paris favourite who formerly headed the Paco Rabanne label, drew
on Americana and Africa rather than India for his Wild West themed “Hell’s
Belles” show that he called “mad”.
But its “Twin Peaks on Haribo” look went down a storm with his fans, who
particularly loved the zany way he rebooted humble denim jackets and skirts
with tribal embroidery and African wax print fabrics.
With his newly awarded Legion d’Honneur — a kind of French knighthood —
in his pocket, the Mumbai-born designer cut loose with day-glo colours and
prairie skirt combinations that were made to party.
“I am the first Indian creative to be rewarded for fashion and arts in
France,” he told reporters after the show. “It’s exceptional, it took a long
time to sink in. Trust the French to find you and tell you that you deserve
it.”
The younger Mishra has also been feeling the love, even though his
restrained palette never strayed much further than royal blue, black and
cream, with a little bit of pale yellow creeping in at the end.
The 37-year-old designer, who won the prestigious International Woolmark
Prize two years ago, told AFP that his new line was inspired by the
unconditional love of his five-month-old daughter.
And you could feel a warm glow in the room as models walked out at the
Palais de Tokyo modern art gallery.
A video posted by Rahul Mishra Official (@rahulmishra_7) on Mar 6, 2016 at 2:42am PST
The style bible Vogue loved it, praising the collection as “a new level of
accomplishment” and the most “streetwise… fresh and contemporary of
Mishra’s
designs”. Vogue’s legendary style guru Suzy Menkes had already pronounced
herself a
fan, saying “the delicacy of the knits, which were so fine that they could
barely be identified as wool on the runway, was breathtaking.”Mishra — who often quotes Gandhi — has been praised for the way he has
melded modern methods with India’s amazing craft traditions.
He imports Merino wool from Australia which is then transformed by rural
workers in remote corners of the country.“The entire approach we follow is craft-based, village-based and
sustainable, which can be credited to my humble upbringing,” the science
graduate from rural Uttar Pradesh told AFP.
“There is such craftmanship, money cannot make people work like that, it
is
done for the love of creating things like this,” said Mishra, who called his
show, “It Felt Love”.He said for him the magic is in the hidden artistry which the eye cannot
see, picking up a sari T-shirt which was concealed by a dress to show the
“hand embroidery and stitching done in the villages”.
“When the world is ruled by machines we need to slow down things and
create
something with love and ideas. We need to soak into techniques,” he added.
Mishra said he was trying to put poetry back into people’s lives.The collection’s signature white and royal blue colours came from Chinese
porcelain, he said, with some of the skirts cut from material normally used
for elegant table cloths.
“It’s all about things which touch the heart,” he said. “We love sipping
coffee or tea from a beautiful china cup. And it is the same for clothes. We
don’t create them just for functionality.” (AFP)Photos: AFP and Vogue