Rahul Mishra has a vacation house close to the Himalayan forest, where countless species of insects, snakes, and all sorts of wildlife live in peace. His daughter once asked him why in the city such creatures are considered a nuisance or a threat, and we’re compelled to get rid of them. “Kids today know them only from books, and in the future they’ll probably see them only on a petri dish in science labs,” he said backstage before today’s show, with models swirling around in sequined dresses embellished with 3D scarabs, butterflies, and serpents.
The venue was a dilapidated industrial space, as Mishra wanted to convey the feeling of a place devoid of any human presence, where rare locusts, dragonflies, and reptilian varieties can live undisturbed and unharmed. Transposed with literal precision into embroideries or appliqués on a parade of flamboyant gowns, ornate capes, and evening dresses in lattice cut-outs dripping with sequins, they will surely live their best life—safe, with no risk of extinction.
There’s always a socially conscious subtext to Mishra’s practice; this collection was about drawing attention to how biodiversity is in danger, how species of reptiles and insects are disappearing. He called the collection “Superheroes,” as he believes that these humble creatures are “the benign architects of the planet, and we have to learn how to coexist with them, and suppress the instinct to kill them.” He quoted “Snake,” a poem by D.H. Lawrence, who described his encounter with a serpent, saying that “the voice of my education said to me it must be killed.”
No such instinct would be elicited encountering one of Mishra’s showstoppers, but rather wonderment at the meticulous craft that went into their execution. The first look was the reproduction of a petri dish, replete with fluttering dragonflies. Moths were rather convincingly cloned on a round-shaped tulle dress intended to replicate a lamp, a circular dress/shield was entirely embroidered with an intricate lattice of slithering snakes, and lizards peeked out from a dress in black tulle, “like emerging from the crevices they live in.” Indulging his penchant for lavish creations prodigiously crafted, Mishra established himself as a first-rate couture entomologist.
