Getting a wake-up call from Ariana Grande is anyone’s dream. When Rahul Mishra’s phone rang early in the morning a few days ago, little did he know that he was about to live that dream. “I was fast asleep that time and when I woke up finally, after missing a couple of calls, I saw celebrity stylist Law Roach’s name flashing on the screen… he told me Arie (Ariana Grande) was with him and that she wants to talk to me!” says Mishra, one of India’s leading fashion designers.

Ariana Grande, with Law Roach by her side, can access any outfit from any part of the world, including the archives. But when it came to what to wear during the global promotions of the film Wicked: Part Two (also known as Wicked: For Good), it was Rahul Mishra she reposed her trust in. It took Mishra three months to execute the costume from concept stage to finish and courier it to the U.S. And when Ariana finally got to see the garment in front of her, she quickly decided to call Mishra. “It was so amazing to receive her call saying she loved the creation… she was so curious to know how long did it take to make the garment, how many artisans and craftsmen worked on it, etc., and she was so happy that she was going to wear something that was more of a work of art than fashion,” says Mishra who often dresses up several global celebrities, including Selena Gomez and Zendaya.

Ariana Grande wore Rahul Mishra Couture for the Wicked: Part Two promotions which was a tribute to the fictitious Emerald City (which features in the films) and the artisans of India— an extraordinary confluence of cinema and couture. The ensemble was an intricate embodiment of the fabled Emerald City, celebrating imagination, duality, and the boundless artistry of Indian craftsmanship. 

A vision of fantasy reimagined through hand, the look, conceptualised as a couture interpretation of Wicked’s enchanted world, merges the impossible with the handmade. “Unlike most other occasions, I found this extremely challenging as I had to create something from the fantasy world… right from scratch not quite knowing what the outcome will be,” says Mishra. The corset, sculpted over hundreds of hours at the designer’s atelier, was meticulously embroidered to resemble the gleaming skyline of Emerald City—a luminous architecture of sequins, glass beads, metallic threads, and zardozi. 

Each spire and dome was rendered with microscopic precision, transforming fabric into a radiant cityscape of light. The base structure was moulded to Ariana’s form, and designed as a “living sculpture”—its surface shifting hues from deep emerald green to a soft rosé pink, creating a chromatic dialogue that captures the duality of Glinda. This gradient symbolises her balance between strength and tenderness, magic and humanity—a poetic reflection of the character’s spirit and Ariana’s own luminous persona. “I have some of the best craftsmen in the world working with me right here in India who are trained to think like artists,” says Mishra. “Such kind of thinking paves the way for out-of-the-box creative results such as this one! While the skirt was in pink and the corset in green, I had to be very careful to get the kind of green that could truly portray the Emerald City and I am glad we finally pulled it off.”

Mishra says that the piece is a dialogue between imagination and hand—“between the fantasy world of Wicked and the very real magic our artisans create every day”. He adds, “We wanted to translate the surreal aura of Emerald City into something tangible, something that breathes with human touch.” Within Mishra’s atelier, artisans became architects constructing an imagined city from the smallest of gestures: the glint of a sequin, the flicker of thread, the measured rhythm of a needle. Hundreds of hours were devoted to this piece, blending artistry, geometry, and emotion into one seamless form. 

A collaboration in vision guided by Law Roach’s artistic direction, the collaboration bridges two creative worlds—Hollywood’s theatrical grandeur and Rahul Mishra’s deeply human approach to couture. Together, they built a vision that feels otherworldly yet grounded in authenticity, embodying both Wicked’s narrative and the timeless relevance of handmade creation. Ariana’s ethereal presence, paired with the garment’s fantastical detailing, transforms the look into a cinematic tableau— one that stands as both costume and couture, fantasy and fine art. 

In essence, Ariana and Roach’s collaboration with Mishra for the Wicked: Part Two promotions transcends the boundaries of fashion and film and somewhat becomes a celebration of imagination, artistry, and cultural exchange. And as for Rahul Mishra, he doesn’t mind being woken up early in the morning by a call... not if the call is from someone like Ariana Grande!