Rahul Mishal has been designing exquisite haute couture pieces for over two decades.
The Indian designer, who is known for his opulent designs and impressive embroideries, was the first Indian designer to be invited to showcase his collections at Haute Couture Week in Paris. At the heart of his designers are traditional Indian embroideries, which are still present in all of his collections today, albeit with a modern, cosmopolitan twist. Misha has come a long way from his humble beginnings in India but he continues to remain loyal and dedicated to the traditions and techniques of hand-making clothing that his home country is known for. He creates his designs locally in India, partnering with the most talented craftspeople, to produce pieces that are of the utmost quality.
It seems fitting then that Tod’s an Italian brand which also holds quality, craftsmanship and family values at the heart of everything it does, would approach the Indian designer to work on a collaboration collection. The partnership that took seven years to come to fruition launched last week in London, with an exclusive line of shoes and bags forming the “Rahul Mishra X Tod’s” collection. The “Rahul Mishra X Tod’s” collection is part of Tod’s Factory, a creative laboratory where established and emerging designers are invited to offer a new point of view on the Tod’s DNA and its iconic heritage. Tod’s Factory allows creatives unique access to Tod’s craftsmen and the savoir-faire in the Marche region of Italy, creating a range of capsule collections and limited-edition pieces within the season.
This collection pays homage to the encounter of quality and Italian artisanal tradition and the essence of Indian craftsmanship, with Misha applying custom-designed embroideries onto some iconic Tod’s creations. Accessories, including the Gommino, the Di Bag and the T Timeless bag have been hand embroidered by skilled Kaarigar artisans, who have perfected this art for generations and interpret timeless luxury with a contemporary language. Here we find out more about this very special collection.
How did the collaboration between you and Tod’s come to life?
Tod’s first contacted me in 2017 about a possible collaboration and later that year, after my ready-to-wear show at Paris Fashion Week, I flew to Milan and went to Tod’s headquarters in Ancona. Diego Della Valle [CEO of Tod’s Group], was travelling, so I was hosted by his brother Andrea, and I was truly fascinated by the brand. At Tod’s, they don’t just control the manufacturing of their products, they look after people in the village [where the HQ is]. They have set up everything in Ancona to help all the families that live there. I fell in love with what they are doing. I love this feeling of luxury, which isn’t just about marketing alone. It has a deeper meaning and a beautiful ecosystem around it. So I knew after this visit that I HAD to do this collaboration. I wanted to be involved with this brand.
When I got back to India, I was sent materials from Tod’s, and we started working on creating the first pair of shoes. And then, I realised that doing the finest embroidery on the finest material is not easy. When you look at any shoe that might have some embroidery, the material is different – it’s usually fabric – and even if it’s leather, it’s end-to-end covered, to hide mistakes, but here, the materials Tod’s uses are so beautiful I wanted them to be visible. When you create a Gommino, you need stretchability, you need a material that can breathe and almost become a second skin for a foot. So, creating a shoe with embroidery was very challenging. Creating embroidery on clothes is much easier! When you do a piece of clothing, it’s very easy – clothes are a larger canvas, so details can be easily captured, but if you shrink the canvas to a bag or a shoe, the details have to be a lot more intricate, and the process is a lot more intense. So, it took us two or three years of development before we were ready. And then Covid hit and everything was put on hold. Then in 2023, we got a message from Tod’s to set a timeline for the project and we pinned the date for 2024. And here we are.
It was Mr Diego Della Valle’s passion, his belief in artisanal works, the savoir-faire that we offer, and his love for our brand that made this happen. It took seven years to develop and now we are seeing the result.
Tod’s is the Italian soul of beautiful handcrafted pieces, using the most beautiful craftsmanship to shape bags and shoes. I don’t feel that it’s just a collaboration between Tod’s and Rahul Mishra. It is a collaboration between India and Italy. India is known to create the best of hand embroideries for the world – when I showcase Haute Couture, we are the only designer doing Indian embroideries. And with this collection, we don’t just showcase Indian embroideries, we also showcase modern Indian histories.
Tell us about the message and story you are telling with these pieces.
My idea with this collection was to go back to the drawing board. Although my last two seasons of Haute Couture have been dominated by black and grey tones to create a very global and modern feel, in this collection, we thought about how we could make something that even if you don’t know it was created by the house of Rahul Mishra or Tod’s, you still know it is the best of Indian and Italian craftsmanship coming together. So, I really worked on modern Indian ethnography.
The tiger is one of the most important motifs in Indian culture. My idea behind the tiger was to create a modern motif out of it. The tiger walking in a lotus pond was an idea to pay homage to Indian craftsmanship and, at the same time, modern Indian aesthetics. The Tree of Life is a motif originating out of India and is the common connection between India and impression motifs. There’s a beautiful mosque in Ahmedabad, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mosque has the most amazing Tree of Life carved on sandstone. Artisans came together to create it in 1532. The details are beyond anything I’ve seen. I studied 2km away from this mosque, and it’s therefore very important to me. So, creating a Tree of Life motif with two parrots sitting on it took a very typical Indian idea and made it modern. India is not just a country, it’s multi-cultural, multi-spirituality, it’s beautiful.
The beauty of India is incredible. The most beautiful mosques and temples are all preserved in all their glory. This collection somehow shows these multicultural elements in all its facets. It was not a collection based on a theme or moodboard. It was more like creating a time capsule.
Tell us about the leather colours you chose and why you chose them.
The idea was to express the opulence of luxury because anything handmade is the epitome of haute couture or luxury. Being a haute couture brand, it became really important for us to showcase a new version within our universe and elevate these accessories to become almost like jewellery pieces. They are not just accessories, they are crafted like jewellery is. That was the whole feeling behind everything we did, including how we worked with the colour palette. We looked at some of the classic Tod’s shapes, and these icons became a canvas for craftsmen to express themselves. Some of the master craftsmen at Rahul Mishra have worked on these pieces, and that’s why it took us six months even to produce hand embroideries in India. The patterns initially came to India. We created some art pieces with those patterns, which were then sewn. The embroidery was done on the leather and it was sent back to Italy. After this, they were transported to Italy, where they were again hand-assembled. The craftsmen here didn’t see it as a challenge to sew into the leather, and it was also a beautiful exchange between two production processes. It was a complex collection; it wasn’t easy to make, and that’s why it took seven years of research and development.
What are the common codes you found between you and Tod’s?
During my visit to Ancona, what really moved me was that whatever piece Tod’s was creating, it was purposeful. This brand is not just creating luxury pieces simply for consumption. They are creating luxury that will create employment for the region. That is such an important message in today’s world. The world is moving forward with AI, and the world’s population is increasing. Today, India is the world’s most populated country, so what I create in couture needs to create employment. So the idea of creating slowness in the process means I’m creating more participation from hand embroiders and artisans, and they are getting the chance to express themselves and also get employment. This is a message of creating luxury with heart, where luxury does not just follow the process at hand. It’s an idea in the mind, an emotion in the heart and a process that happens with the hand. And this entire universe is unified across the two brands. This is very special.
What would you still like to achieve?
Most importantly, it’s sharing this message with the world. The world is moving very fast with technology and any way we can show people that anything made by hand is far more luxurious and far more beautiful is crucial today. The power of luxury goes beyond an expensive item. The idea is that what we create in India with our craftsmen and embroiders provides lives for them or their families. To a craftsman, luxury is an enabler. If luxury is slow; it is an enabler for him to dream big for his children. That should be the same for all craftsmen. My question is; how do I ensure there is enough work for all my craftsman so they can dream big for their families? My mission is to create more employment across Indian villages. My dream is to employ a million people one day. It is a big dream, but dreams need to be big.
Your dreams are big, and your objectives are challenging. How do you keep yourself grounded and really be committed to your dreams?
In India, all the designers use embroidery. It is not a passing trend. I think of a simple philosophy: Any step you take in any direction you’re contemplating, think of the weakest and poorest person you’ve ever come across in life and ask how what you do could be useful for him, to help him gain control of his life. I’m a fashion designer. I think of a mood board or an idea, and then I create. Now, if I created a print, it could be very simple and take ten people to do the job, but if I do hand embroidery, 5,000 humans have a job. So, for me, it’s simple. I want to do something which is useful for a person who’s behind in life. I don’t want to do something that I can 100 per cent control and produce at a fast pace – that’s easily done – I want to take time and to give people a purpose and a better chance.
I live in the city where Gandhi gave a message of peace to the world. My design professor taught me the power of Gandhi’s message. Of inclusivity. Making sure everyone gets to do their work. And when you come from the most populous country in the world, there’s the biggest challenge. However small my contribution might be, I want to contribute. I want to take a more difficult path because, ultimately, it’s also about making the most beautiful decision, not the easiest one. This is what couture is for me.
What message would you give our readers and consumers in this region?
I would say that whether it’s related to sustainability, environmental culture, or the economy, you should make a choice every day. We all have choices. Make a small choice. Go to luxury that is made by hand. Ask questions about the brand and the products you spend money on. How much is going to a person who really needs the work? Maybe, if as consumers, we can start making smart choices about what we choose to buy and that it creates some value for somebody who’s way behind in line.
