Rahul Mishra’s new collection turns India’s ancient sculptures into couture

When a sculptor looks at a block of stone, he sees a figure waiting within it. In Rahul Mishra’s latest couture collection, Devi, that gaze travels in the opposite direction: stone becomes the starting point for garments built stitch by stitch.

The collection takes its cue from the Indian subcontinent’s temple complexes, cave sanctuaries and monumental sculptures, where apsaras, dancers, devis, celestial attendants and divine figures have held their poses for centuries. It is an idea that lends itself naturally to travel — a journey across India through the visual language of its sculptures, from Belur and Halebidu to Khajuraho and Konark and into the cave traditions that preserve another chapter of the country’s artistic memory.

The journey begins with the figure itself. Temple sculptures recorded far more than religious iconography; through posture, jewellery, costume and mudras, they preserved ideas of beauty, femininity and identity. In many of these carvings, jewellery almost becomes clothing, with layered necklaces, elaborate girdles, anklets, armlets and headdresses shaping the body as much as fabric does.

“A few seasons ago we created Aura, where we were also studying the human body and its form. At that time, the body was interpreted almost through the movement of a brushstroke, through colour, surface and embroidery. This season, the way of looking changed completely and I was trying to look at things like a sculptor, but also like a historian and an archaeologist,” Rahul reveals.

Sculpture traditionally takes shape by removing material; Rahul’s atelier reverses the process, adding thread, stitch and layers until fabric begins to suggest the solidity of stone. The house studied historical Indian sculpture not to reproduce it, but to understand the ideas that shaped it and translate them into its own couture vocabulary.

“We looked at temple and cave sculptures, at apsaras, devis, dancers, celestial figures, their postures, their jewellery, their clothes and the smallest motifs carved into them. For me, Devi is not simply about the goddess. She becomes the eternal muse. A woman who moves from life into the imagination of the sculptor, from the sculptor into stone, from stone into memory and now from that memory into couture. We looked closely at India’s sculptural traditions, particularly the figures and ornamentation found across places such as Belur and Halebidu, Khajuraho, Konark and our cave traditions. The jewellery was especially fascinating because in many of these sculptures, ornament almost becomes clothing. The body, jewellery and sculpture begin to feel like one form,” the couturier tells us.

One of the collection’s most distinctive techniques is ek taar or single-thread embroidery. Artisans work repeatedly with a single thread, gradually building density across the surface. The result is deliberately unlike conventional decorative embroidery: instead of simply catching light, it acquires the unevenness, patina and texture of aged stone. Oxidised golds, bronzes, greys and darker metallic tones deepen that impression, while sheer bases and lightweight construction keep the garments fluid.

“Skilled artisans worked with a single thread repeatedly across the surface, building density very slowly until the textile started acquiring the patina, irregularity and texture of aged stone. That was quite exciting for us because embroidery is normally associated with ornamentation, shine and decoration. Here, we were asking embroidery to behave like a completely different material. We wanted something soft and flexible to almost look monolithic. In some pieces, the embroidery becomes so dense that from a distance you almost forget that you are looking at fabric. It begins to resemble a carved surface. Then when the person moves, suddenly you realise that it is completely soft. We also worked with sheer bases, metallic elements, beads and very fine tonal embroidery. At places, oxidised golds, bronzes, greys and darker metallic tones were used to bring the feeling of an old sculpture, where the surface has changed with time. The challenge was also to create depth without making the garments feel heavy, ” the designer says.

The illusion is furthered by zardosi, dabka, stones, crystals and bugle beads, layered into trompe-l’œil surfaces that appear carved rather than stitched. “One idea that became very important was the prabhavali. Traditionally, it is the form around a deity that represents radiance, light or an aura. I found that idea very beautiful because you are trying to depict something which actually has no physical form. Then there are motifs taken from the carved surfaces themselves, from floral and architectural forms to details found around apsaras, devis and celestial figures,” he shares.

The collection’s sculptural vocabulary also extends to its accessories. The Rahul Mishra design team worked with traditional clay artisan Sumant Kumar to create bespoke headpieces based on the ceremonial crowns seen on ancient stone figures, while milliner Stephen Jones developed the veils and additional headpieces for the runway.

Price on request. Available online.

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