Exclusive: Rahul Mishra Reacts To Viral Comparisons Between His And Gaurav Gupta's Paris Couture Week Collections

Paris Haute Couture Week is a biannual fashion event where ace designers across the globe showcase custom-made, handcrafted collections. It is one of the most prestigious runways, where ateliers present their Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter bespoke selections.

But over time, while the runways have remained focused on the collections, the coverage has largely been focused on controversies. After all, any exposure is good exposure. While fashion enthusiasts on social media dissect every atelier line, others hunt for controversies and blow them out of proportion as everybody lines up to benefit from them and be a part of the trend.

This year, Rahul Mishra showcased his 14th collection, Devi, at Paris Haute Couture Week. Speaking about the latest seasonal edit, he called it "almost like time travel". 

"We have created something which takes all the symbolisms of an ancient sculpture, probably more than 2,000 years old, found in the southern part of India... as if we are reliving culture with the same ideas that created these sculptures and served as inspiration for these sculptors," the ace designer said in an Instagram video.

Inside Rahul Mishra's Fall/ Winter Collection

Devi: The Eternal Muse was inspired by sculptures carved in ancient temples of India. The designer transformed these centuries-old carvings into a couture line, which has taken social media by storm and become one of the most-talked-about collections this season.

"This collection carries a lot of contradictions. How a single thread of silk filled in every millimetre of this texture creates a memory of stone. How can embroidery suggest metal or stone relief in a carved drapery? The tension between softness and monumentality becomes central to the work of the collection," the designer said, explaining the vision of his latest couture collection.

One of the highlights of the show was American Rapper Cardi B wearing one of Mishra's creations and stealing the spotlight. In an Instagram post, the designer revealed that her outfit was inspired by the 12th-century sculpture of Mohini at the Chennakeshawa Temple, Belur. 

"This piece began with a deep admiration for the grace, ornamentation and sculptural beauty of Hoysala art. Through hand embroidery and trompe-l'œil, we worked thread by thread to recreate the illusion of carved jewellery, drape and form on fabric...translating stone into something weightless, living and wearable," he added.

Controversy Around Rahul Mishra's Devi Collection

Less than 24 hours after Rahul Mishra unveiled his collection Devi to the world, Gaurav Gupta took to Instagram to reshare his bespoke collection, The Divine Androgyne. Inspired by ancient temple murtis (sculptures), he recreated the stone-like divinity breastplate.

"Rooted in the classical sacred feminine canon, the form draws from the Mauryan Yakshi body and its evolution into Gupta temple devis, where jewellery defines anatomy and ornament becomes architecture," read the caption.

He unveiled this collection in late January during Paris Haute Couture Week for the Spring/Summer season.

The Internet quickly noticed similarities between the two collections and started doing what it does best - pitting two icons against each other.

A day later, Tarun Tahiliani took to Instagram to bring into the spotlight his Spring/Summer 2001 collection, inspired by the power and rhythm of Nataraja. "India's artistic legacy has always been at the heart of our journey," the caption read, adding, "We celebrate movement, craftsmanship, and culture - where every step of our studio's evolution echoes tradition, reimagined for today."

Rahul Mishra On Comparisons Of Devi Collection With Gaurav Gupta's Carved In Time Lineup

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Rahul Mishra opened up about the hot controversy surrounding his Haute Couture collection. He said, "India has an extraordinary visual history, and its ancient sculpture has inspired artists, sculptors, filmmakers and designers across generations. So I don't see this as a single-point comparison. I see it as different creative minds responding to a much larger cultural memory."

NDTV reached out to Gaurav Gupta for his response. The story will be updated once there is an update.

Explaining his approach to designing and bringing collection Devi to life, Rahul Mishra said, "Many designers across the world have explored the idea of the sculpted body or breastplate through different mediums-metal, resin, moulding, plaster, thermocol or casting."

He added that for Devi, the approach was very different. He looked closely at the sculptures of Hoysala, Belur, Chennakesava and Ajanta, especially the way jewellery, drapes and the body were carved into stone.

He revealed that instead of moulding a sculptural form, he, along with his team, built the illusion through embroidery, filling the entire surface and almost creating a new textile, thread by thread, on soft fabric, creating a trompe-l'œil effect of stone, ornament and drape. "This language is also connected to our own past work," he shared, adding that his team has explored the body, surface, and illusion through hand embroidery and painterly techniques.

"So while comparisons may happen from a single image, the journey, medium and process are very different. For me, the collection is about honouring a shared Indian artistic inheritance through the Rahul Mishra language of handwork, time and craft," Mishra said.

Speaking about his inspiration, he told NDTV that the idea of DEVI began many months before the show. "It came from looking at Indian temple sculpture-not just as religious imagery, but as records of beauty, craft, movement, jewelry, drape, and the human form," he added.

It took the designer several months to conceptualise and develop the collection, from research and sketching to sampling, surface trials and embroidery. "Across the studio, many hands were involved-designers, pattern-makers, embroiderers, tailors and artisans-because each look required a very different kind of construction," he further shared.

"Some pieces are built almost like soft sculpture. What looks like carved stone is actually created through embroidery, thread by thread. That is where most of the time goes-not only in making the surface beautiful but also in making it feel alive, wearable and precise," the designer added.

While the chatter around borrowed inspiration continues on social media, Rahul Mishra's recent collection, Devi, remains one of the most prominent examples of how culture and fashion have always been entwined, much like two sides of the same coin.