Rahul Mishra has been experimenting with off-calendar presentations of late: exactly a year ago, he celebrated the arrival of his AFEW line (Air, Fire, Earth, Water) at Saks in New York. This season, on the eve of Paris Fashion Week, he took the collection to Dubai.
“I always look up to Paris, but at this stage it’s too much pressure to do so many fashion shows, and only a few big brands can manage it,” he said during preparations for a trunk show of about 30 pieces. “It takes months of preparation. This format is a bit more relaxing, and it gives me a chance to interact with people—from a business side, it’s important to know the market.”
Case in point: his nearly 7,500 square-foot Mumbai store racked up $1 million in sales during its first month, spanning couture, ready-to-wear, and limited-edition sequined bags. “As a brand, we needed to start recognizing the real power of love for your work,” he said.
The purpose of AFEW is to be “quietly revolutionary.” His spring 2026 collection, titled "Fresh" (Familiar, Reimagined, Evolving, Simple and Human—Mishra can’t resist an acronym), mined the poetry of Madras, one of India’s most humble textiles. “It’s the best fabric for an Indian summer, and the southern part of India is all about endless summer,” he quipped. The textile has an intriguing trajectory: originally an affordable everyday sarong fabric, it climbed the global ladder to European suits, American workwear, and old-money country club classics.
“My question was how to make it unexpected and new,” Mishra mused. His answer lay in the details. The collection reimagined the modest, hand-woven theme in classic cotton or organza, fused with ideas extrapolated from his couture collection via beading, pleating, and volume. The dialogue between humble and haute emerged in pouf skirts crafted from hand-loomed fabrics paired with silk, stripes, lace, or corseted bustiers. Silver, sequins, and textural plays—intricately embroidered dragonflies on hoodies, lace hummingbirds on tees—were meant to sustain the narrative from day to evening.
Natural irregularities and “the quiet presence of the maker” were particularly evident in a black-and-white striped ensemble in handmade khadi, a cloth symbolic of India’s independence movement. Here, then, is craft as philosophy. “I may get credit for the brand, but it’s really a story about community,” Mishra explained, noting that 2,000 embroiderers work with his company.
And therein lies his take on the future of the industry. “Luxury will live in products that are as slow as possible and go through human hands,” he said. “To me, that’s the answer.”
