Indian designer Rahul Mishra is unveiling his latest ready-to-wear collection in Dubai on Wednesday, a first on several accounts.
Under the banner of AFEW Rahul Mishra (an acronym for Air, Fire, Earth and Water), the spring-summer 2026 collection is the first to be revealed to an invitation-only audience in the UAE.
Asked why he is looking beyond the traditional calendar of Milan or Paris fashion weeks, Mishra explains: “The idea is that ready-to-wear should almost become a travelling exhibition, moving across different capitals so we are able to interact and understand every audience. Also, we end up learning more once we take it to different locations.”
Having already staged shows in Paris, New York and across India, the inevitable next step is Dubai. “It’s one of the most important markets in the world today,” he says.
Invited to join the prestigious Haute Couture Fashion Week in Paris in 2020, Mishra was then given time to rethink about reshaping his future when the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down. He chose to step outside the crowded fashion schedule, affording him the freedom to set his own stage.
One element that has not changed is how the celebration of India’s artisanal heritage is central to his work. While his couture is famed for intricate, labour-intensive embroidery, his ready-to-wear collections reinterpret those traditions in lighter, more accessible forms.
This season, his focus shifts from the sewn to the handloom. The Madras check is a fabric more commonly worn draped rather than tailored. “It required our special skills to tailor that fabric, which otherwise does not take to tailoring very well, making this collection even more challenging – even more special,” he explains.
Mishra believes passionately in the beauty of handwork and giving artisans the time needed to work. It is a mentality that shapes everything he does. “The philosophy is quite constant, and this collection carries the same slowness, the same care as haute couture,” he says.
The collection balances precision with ease. Corsetry is softened by airy textures; sculptural silhouettes in stripes and menswear fabrics are reimagined as feminine forms; and volumes are alternately reduced or ballooned. “It explores the tension between the tailored and the undone,” Mishra adds.
The reworking of such an everyday material enables a new way of thinking, he suggests, enabling a “strange familiarity”.
For the Dubai presentation, Mishra has chosen to forgo the traditional catwalk. Instead, models will move through the audience, while other pieces will be shown on dress forms, encouraging guests to touch, examine and linger.
“It’s almost a new way of looking at fashion,” he says. “We are not typically trying to do a fashion show. It's just celebrating a beautiful evening together.”
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