Couture beyond cloth: The cosmic world of Rahul Mishra’s Paris haute couture Spring '26 collection

On the grand stage of Paris Haute Couture, where imagination is stitched into reality, Rahul Mishra doesn’t merely present a collection -- he unveils a cosmos. With a language rooted in ancient wisdom and expressed through contemporary couture, the Indian designer once again transcends fashion to tell a story of creation, connection and cosmic harmony.

For Spring 2026, Mishra turns to the very building blocks of existence, distilling fire, water, earth, air and space into a luminous narrative he calls Alchemy -- a collection that feels less like a runway showcase and more like a poetic meditation on how the universe breathes, moves and ultimately becomes human.

Mishra has been very consistent when it comes to marking his global presence with his couture collections every season. So, when it came to the time this season, he chose five elements of nature and for the second time, the designer also collaborated with the legendary milliner Stephen Jones, who in the past have collaborated with such famous names as Maison Margiela, Schiaparelli and John Galliano, to create effects that otherwise looked humanly not possible.

Also read: Heritage Meets Haute Couture: Johnnie Walker and Rahul Mishra Celebrate Indian Artistry

Collections had volume infused into them with plenty of subtle embroidery that the fashion designer is well known for. Stitching the connection between these five elements -- fire, water, earth, air and space -- and human body and the universe as per the Rigveda, the designer successfully faced the enormous challenge of percolating the these down to each piece of his meticulously detailed collection.

“This is the second season I joined hands with Stephen and he used acrylics to bring in the amazing look of fire, water, earth, air and space. And I am very happy with the kind of work my team has done to bring in the visuals on each of the couture pieces in terms of embroidery and other surface detailing,” says Mishra who sells his couture pieces worldwide with price tags reaching as high as $250,000.

For any fashion designer assigning a theme to a collection and getting the team to create collections depicting the theme is a task. For Mishra, it was even more challenging as it was not just one, but five such themes needed to be assigned carefully to each piece that was showcased at the Paris Haute Couture runway under the watchful eyes of the international media and buyers. “It was a task that looked beyond challenging... creation of these pieces took months for us to finish with regular consultations with Stephen and team to create that perfect effect of each of these elements. 

Whether it was felt or seen, Mishra managed to successfully execute the theme throughout his collection with his signature finesse and ability to understand and execute things as per the western audience’s tastes and preferences. Orange and red-flame like embroideries depicting fire, dark blue streaming through sculpted creations like water, swirls in silver, purple and blues appearing in the collection reminiscent of winds, the shimmer of space seen through some sparkles in black and silver creating the image of a blackhole and other elements put together to create the role of earth, et al were not just elements strewn liberally, yet carefully so as to bring in the elements ‘seen and felt’ in the collection. “It was not at all easy to transform elements like fire and water into couture. We had to work really hard to make all the elements appear on the pieces in realistic forms,” he says. “But I am glad it appeared as we planned in all 50-odd pieces that appeared on the runway.”

Using various techniques in surface detailing and garment making, Mishra managed to percolate all the five elements to each and every piece of the collection, somewhat lending support to Carl Sagan’s theory that every element in our body are made from elements that came out of collapsing stars as he said, “the nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.” 

And for Rahul Mishra, it was as good as presenting five different collections on one single fashion runway akin to five different elements constituting one body and one soul. Also, a showing presented much to the awe and satisfaction of an international fashion audience. “Effectively showing a theme and concept in the collection is a task no doubt, “ he says. “Here, that task went five times more challenging with five elements in play!” 

In Alchemy, Rahul Mishra proves once again that couture, in his hands, is not confined to fabric and form, but becomes a vessel for philosophy, emotion and wonder. By transforming the five elements into living, breathing works of art, he blurs the boundaries between the earthly and the ethereal, the ancient and the avant-garde. The collection stands as a reminder that true luxury lies not only in meticulous craftsmanship, but in the power of storytelling --where every stitch carries meaning, and every silhouette echoes the vast, mysterious beauty of the universe.