From darkness let there be light

Rahul Mishra's third couture collection at the Haute Couture Week Spring-Summer promises hope for fashion. As a guest member of the Paris couture calendar, the designer renowned for his commitment to slow fashion makes a strong statement which inspires a renewed belief in the world couture.

Mishra who is known to take inspiration from nature, presented 'The Dawn' for Spring 2021, a collection inspired by Mother Earth's incredible ability to regenerate.

The designer shares, "The thought for the collections started with David Attenborough's documentary, 'A life on our Planet' where he indicated that humans cannot save the planet, but they can just prolong their future here with their wisdom. The lockdown showed us how quickly nature reclaims space, in the absence of human interference. This collection encapsulates the idea of nature's growth towards biodiversity starting with the growth of mushrooms – one of the most life-giving species of the planet. Filmed in a pristine marble dump-yard situated in the state of Rajasthan, India, the collection represents a flush of life. A retrieval of colour to a world drained of its natural resources, abundance and animation through years of piling marble dust."

'The Dawn' contemplates the state of environmental damage and imagines the world that shall live beyond the interference of the human species. It emerges from an intensified realisation dur-ing the lockdown that the humans may not have to save the planet, but themselves. The planet perhaps shall survive regardless and the human species may succumb to their weakness.

The models, as if nature herself, wear ensembles featuring exotic mushrooms which are separately hand tacked over the glimmering tree-bark-texture, hand embroidered on tulle and silk organza. The garments were further embellished with wildflowers.

Mishra states, "each of the mushroom forms is individually engineered through a unique pattern making process assisted by novel hand embroidery techniques, in order to achieve a realistic fall and movement."