Rahul Mishra: The Champion of Indian Craftsmanship Rahul Mishra recently formed a JV with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited to create a new brand which will engage in the business of accessories, footwear, home, beauty, and jewelry across the globe. The joint venture company aims to open flagship stores around the globe and create a new global brand under the aegis of Rahul Mishra.
By Punita Sabharwal •
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Rahul Mishra comes from a very humble background as he spent first 10 years of his life in a very small village from Malhausi in UP and never stepped out of the village in the early years.
"That was the most beautiful time of life also although it was very humble," recounts Mishra, who became the first Indian designer to showcase at the Paris Haute Couture Week. Mishra counts it as the most joyful time because he lived in greenery, looked at beauty, and won't do much of study. Soon Mishra started drawing, started making his own toys and playing with those. His artistry was discovered during the time he went to study in a boarding school in Lucknow. Finding himself in a new land Mishra started playing football, cricket and painting.
"And I thought I can be an artist because I was enjoying it more than studies," recalls the man known for slow fashion. "Then my father called me. While he was working in Kanpur as a doctor, I stayed with him, so there was a lot of focus on PCM, IIT, and all. I took Physics, Chemistry, Maths, did my 10+2, graduation. But I realized that I was not going to be happy doing that so I had to run away from my home. I went to my sister's home in Vasundhra, Ghaziabad. I stayed with her and went to NIFT, discovered NID. I sat for exam and got through both. I went to NID and spent 6 years there or a 3.5 year course. I did everything but fashion," shares Mishra.
Mishra got involved with product design, graphic design, furniture, Filmmaking, animation and everything not because it was compulsory for his art but just out of interest. "gyaan har jagah bat raha hai, kahi jakar baith jao" was his mindset as a novice yet a sponge who will grab each piece of information and knowledge. That was the time when Lakme Fashion Week got split with FDCI. So Lakme fashion has a category of Gen. X designer. The then director Dr. Koshi and coordinator Somesh Singh sent his entry over there as a probable participant for the Gen X category. While he was studying at NID he got through in 2006 and showcased his first collection and then after that, he became a fashion designer. "Not out of choice but out of situation," renders Mishra. Soon the Malhausi Man went to study to Milan on a scholarship. "In my first school, the fee was ₹7 or ₹11.00 a month in a village. And then my last school was Istituto Marangoni, one of the most expensive fashion colleges in the world on a scholarship," recalls the man who has redefined art.
I did my first collection which also participated in Gen. X category. I did a Kerala handloom reversal collection. I went to Kerala to develop a handloom textile and then created reversal garments for tourists in Kerala. They say one idea can change your life, so that idea got him entry in as a fashion designer in Lakme Fashion Week in 2006. That idea won him a scholarship in Milan.
Mishra came back to India in 2009, and started the brand again, started his little company in Bombay and soon shifted to Delhi. In 2013, Mishra won a regional prize. Then in 2014, he won a Global International Woolmark Prize and became the first Indian designer to win that award. Afterwards he got invitation for Paris Fashion to showcase and his journey went ahead with Paris Fashion Week prior to which he hadn't done even a single solo show in India.
When asked about balancing the growth and creativity, Mishra mentions, "Creativity is the basic hygiene of any brand. One has to realize it completely. You cannot just create every collection by thinking who's going to buy it? Who's going to wear it? You can't always have commerce going ahead when you are designing. It is better for you to look at beauty in a very isolated way. So it's important to disconnect yourself from previous successes. It is important to take risk and embrace failures. I think success often brings a recipe that become repetitive, that become too commercial. So we somehow wherever we succeed, we keep it at cupboard somewhere or put it under a big stack of ideas, so that we forget about the success and we move on with something new. So that's how creativity thrives."
Rahul Mishra recently formed a JV with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited to create a new brand which will engage in the business of accessories, footwear, home, beauty, and jewelry across the globe. The joint venture company aims to open flagship stores around the globe and create a new global brand under the aegis of Rahul Mishra.
"A lot of new retail stores are happening, 5-6 new stores are happening in India, couple of stores we are planning in Europe, London, Paris, Dubai, everywhere. So a lot of hunt is going on. Expansion in terms of brand expansion and product category expansion, a lot of these kind of things are happening. So a lot of the actions will get unfolded really soon. It's too early to talk about it," signs off Mishra.
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