Lifestyle

A collection with an Italian heart and an Indian soul: Rahul Mishra

Tod’s approached designer Rahul Mishra (right) for a collaboration in 2017 | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The story of the first-of-its-kind collaboration between award-winning Indian couturier Rahul Mishra and Italy’s multimillion-dollar fashion house Tod’s goes back to 2017 when their paths crossed in Paris. The latter reached out to Rahul — who had created waves in the industry with his couture edits at platforms like Paris Fashion Week — for a limited-edition handcrafted capsule of bags and shoes, which provoked his fiercely creative mind to take up the challenge. Made with absolute luxury of time and embroidered with intricate details, the Rahul Mishra X Tod’s has been launched today, during London Fashion Week, at Tod’s Bond Street Boutique.

Bags and shoes by Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

“Though Tod’s approached me in 2017 and I traveled to their headquarters in Marche, utterly impressed by the scale and sophistication of their setup, the research and development of this edit began in 2018. Had it not been for COVID-19, we would have launched it in 2020, but the pandemic interrupted our plans and we resumed work in mid-2023,” says Rahul Mishra on a phone call from Delhi.

Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The collection is part of Tod’s Factory, a creative laboratory of Tod’s, where established and emerging designers are invited to offer a new point of view on the Tod’s DNA and its iconic heritage. His only condition for creating this collection was to launch it when he was absolutely ready. “Anything that is handmade takes time and this is the slowest collaboration ever,” he states, priding his association with the Italian brand for its design sensibilities and reverence for handcrafted goods — a common, connecting thread that forms the basis of this partnership. “When I visited the factory of Tod’s, I noticed that most of their processes, design and production, involved handwork. When entering into a partnership with any brand, I ensure that they have the same values, vision and thought process as ours, because we too focus on Indian handicrafts and hand embroidery,” he adds.

The intricate embroidery on Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

This is Rahul’s third collaboration this year — in May he teamed up with Belgian beer and gin brand Hoegaarden for an exclusive limited-edition collection of bottles titled Summer in a Glass, and Singapore Tourism Board (STB) for the Spring Summer 2024 Wedding Capsule Collection. . He had, previously, also collaborated with jewelery houses Tanishq and Swarovski and shoe brands Fizzy Goblet and Oceedee. “At the time when I signed up for Tod’s edit I had not experimented with shoes and bags. So, creating designs for other shoe brands gave me enough knowhow on the subject and, of course, the user study,” he says.

Embroidered by hand, Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

It took a total of 150 artisans at Rahul Mishra’s studio in Delhi to create the edit. The most challenging part, he says, was to push the detailed embroidery through the leather sent by Tod’s team to India. “Gommino is one of the most comfortable footwear by Tod’s and I love it for its stretch and fitting. When you make a garment, the canvas is big. On a shoe the canvas is small. So, the details have to be big. Also, the embroidery on both the shoes in a pair has to be identical. With hand embroidery that becomes a challenge as big as ensuring that the leather is blemish-free, there’s no pulling or puckering,” he explains.

Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The Rahul Mishra X Tod’s edit seems to celebrate the heritage crafts quintessential to the design identity of both the brands. The iconic shapes of Tod’s leather bags and shoes — like Gommino, Di Bag and a selection of T Timeless accessories for men and women — converge with India’s heritage crafts and embroideries like zardosi, and aari, through which Rahul interprets Indian motifs inspired by Nature and metaphysical realms.

Take, for instance, the golden Di Bag in the edit that features parrots perched atop the tree of life (a fundamental archetype in many of the world’s mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions). “I have been working with tree of life for long. It was the name and predominant theme of one of our collections launched in 2022. With Tod’s, Tree of Life sometimes becomes very chintz. It may look very baroque, but the way the tree evolves was the whole idea. The collection also features a tiger bag where you will find a reference to a shirt I designed for Mark Zuckerberg. This collection was in the making this year at the time I designed for Mark,” says Rahul.

Rahul Mishra Photo Credit: Special arrangement

He shares that though his inspiration comes from Nature, there is a conscious attempt at redefining the idea of global Indian identity, which is dictated by the times one lives in but has its roots in age-old techniques that underscore heritage crafts of the country. He explains this concept through a sari-like gown he designed for American actress and singer Zendaya. “It had all the elements of a sari — a heavy palla and borders. The motifs are Indian too and so is the embroidery. It’s a global Indian perspective that lends a creative curve to it. It was therefore important that the partnership with Tod’s gave a canvas to Indian aesthetic too and not just become another export of India’s artisanal power and technique,” he says.