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Celebrating Kerala cottons

Tall, pony-tailed Rahul Mishra’s looks conforms with popular images of the brash, Mumbai-based upmarket fashion designer-with-attitude who makes frightfully expensive clothes for the bold and the beautiful. That is the case until he showcases his work or starts talking about design. That is when the real Rahul Mishra stands up.

He does make clothes for the stars – Parvathy Omanakuttan, Resul Pookutty and A.R. Rahman, to name a few (When A.R. Rahman performs in Kozhikode, he is likely to wear a Rahul Mishra creation). But unlike many other designers who look Westward for inspiration, Rahul’s inspiration is the crafts and weaves of India.

His recent collection ‘Reversing the Recession’ for the Lakme Fashion Week epitomises Rahul’s philosophy.

HIGH ON STYLE Rahul Mishra (top) and a model in one of his creations

“It all started with Raj Thackeray’s remarks about the North-South divide, linguistic barriers… I wanted to come up with a collection that would showcase the warp and weft of India’s integration. So, I came up with reversible clothes that combines Benarasi silks (woven by Muslim weavers in Uttar Pradesh) and Kerala fine cottons (woven by Hindus in the South). It is my vision of one India sans barriers of language, region and religion.” The classic cut of the zari-bordered Kerala cotton changes to flamboyant colours and cuts and pleats for the side made of Benarasi silk. In fact, the collection is a sort of extension of the work he did for his first collection, ‘Ray of Light,’ that lit up the fashion world (Lakme Fashion Week, 2006) while he was a student of National Institute of Design.

“I had to do a project on Kerala. My research on the State helped me discover fine Kerala cottons and I created my first collection of reversible clothes that fetched me a slew of awards,” explains Rahul who idolises master weaver Gopinathan who was awarded the Padma Shri recently.

The only non-European to win a scholarship to the Fashion Design from Instituto Marangoni (Armani and Gabbana figure in their alumni), Rahul’s journey from a small village near Kanpur, to the catwalks in Mumbai, is the stuff of fairy tales. Rahul says the best way to conserve the myriad textile traditions in India is to reinvent it and find new ways to use it. “But I feel that each garment must be true to the weave and the culture that inspired it. So, I refuse to embellish Kerala cottons with embroidery or bead work. Similarly I retain the crease of the Bandhini with a special technique that enhances the aesthetics of the garments.

Each textile has a feel of the soil in it. It is something that has evolved over hundreds or thousands of years. We must respect that,” he says passionately.

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