AFEW Rahul Mishra RTW Spring 2024
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Rahul Mishra is used to showing his elaborately embroidered creations during Paris Couture Week. This season he was back in the French capital with an off-calendar ready-to-wear show and an entirely new proposition: a more accessible label that he’s launching with the backing of Indian industrial giant Reliance.
But there’s nothing basic about AFEW Rahul Mishra, an acronym that stands for air, fire, earth, water and references Hindu mythology. Almost every item featured some form of embellishment, from the silver sequins dusted on the scalloped hem of a white shirt to the colorful tigers, elephants and flowers embroidered on a sheer black cape.
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Mishra presented the looks on a diverse cast, including a group of dancers who dazzled the audience with a sequence of freestyle moves.
“When I look at today’s audience, it’s not right to talk about just one gender or one type of people,” he said. “You just create interesting separates and allow a person to style the way they like to style.”
There were “pack and go” options, from sheer bomber jackets in dusty lilac and highlighter yellow to palazzo pants ranging from a pristine white pleated style to a sparkling black sequined version for night.
Mishra played with layering to take the stress out of dressing up: witness a chic black evening gown with oversize floral embroideries that turned out, on closer inspection, to be a T-shirt worn over a matching skirt and track pants.
The brand plans to open six stores in India in the next six months, including a boutique at Jio World Plaza, the much-hyped luxury mall that Reliance is set to open in Mumbai on Oct. 31.
International expansion is also on the cards. Cleverly positioned at the crossroads between casual and occasion dressing, AFEW should resonate well beyond India’s borders.
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Launch Gallery: AFEW Rahul Mishra RTW Spring 2024
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