Gecko, my dost, and other wonders of nature

Iguanas, geckos, snakes and dragonflies were the Superheroes in Rahul Mishra’s Spring 24 collection

Rahul Mishra's Spring 2024 collection could be just what the doctor ordered for entomophobia-cs, whose love for high-fashion outweighs their fear of anthropoids. Scarabs, dragonflies, beetles and bees were crawling for space on his creations, while giant geckos slithered across the torso and groin.

Mishra was at it again. This time, he turned to DH Lawrence's 1920s poem Snake, and convinced even the squeamish to see creepy-crawlies as superheroes with wings. Superheroes was also the title of his collection at the recently-concluded Paris Haute Couture Week. "They are equal architects of this planet and our gaze needs to change [towards them], and [we must] allow them to stay harmoniously in their settlements and co-exist with humans," Mishra said in a press note.

Fashion becomes beguiling when it offers up a narrative. And right from his Fall 2019 collection, which marked Mishra's entry into the world of international couture, he has been harnessing the power of storytelling through time-honoured craftsmanship while addressing pressing modern concerns of climate change and the environment. His Superheroes collection sat between nature and silken glamour, showcasing the best of India's hand embroideries like zari, ek-taar, badla, glass beads and rhinestones to achieve a movement of biomimicry within the motifs.

One model came veiled in a shimmering black circle of net on which sat an embroidered dragonfly, followed by a litany of evening dresses in lattice cutwork sprouting sequins. This was Technicolor-exotica, complete with models walking barefoot, draped in safas, glitter trousers; we also caught the one-off saree.

Season after season, Mishra has moved the goal posts in high-fashion by lending an Indian heart to modernist, ergonomic styles. In telling the story of Superheroes, however, Mishra was digging in the mainstream mentality, even as the garments oscillated between haute couture and luxury prêt.

Watching Gaurav Gupta's fashion shows requires the viewer to suspend disbelief. Like in the movie theatre, when the lights go down, and the audience shuts out the real world to surrender to fantasy. While his show lasts, we can pretend that there is a bit of a glamazon thing going on in each one of us; that those brims and swoops of chiffon can wash away our existential angst.

Gaurav Gupta pitched his Spring 2024 couture designs between art and fashion, solid and liquid, and perhaps given the brand's reputation, chiselled tailoring and surface embossing

For his third outing on the haute couture calendar, Gupta presented a collection titled, Aarohanam (ascension in Sanskrit) to sartorially catch the spirit of the Kundalini spiritual awakening. Much like the movement of a snake's journey as it sheds old skin to emerge reborn, sharp-shouldered tuxedo jackets and Graeco-Roman-style evening gowns moved from shades of light to darker hues of black, orange and blue, silvery-pearlescent textures crunched to surface with badla, mukaish and zardozi embroidery.

The most striking ensemble was not strictly an ensemble but an idea; a brass hued breastplate with cupped hands, fingers in gyan (knowledge) mudra. Joining the divine finger or thumb with the finger of the self (index finger), it is said to draw in wisdom, expand possibilities and free us from limitations. What's not to like?

The Vaishali S textile-first brand of couture is one that cements the spot humans occupy within nature. Her approach is as wild as her subject, as she deconstructs established clothing tropes, while employing metallic Maheshwari silks and playing with densely layered, intricate mesh cutwork, micro-pleats, cording and appliqués. It is an almost armoured attitude to glamorous dressing without beating down the power drum.

An evening gown or a bridal lehenga? Vaishali S left the choice to viewers as she showcased a cocktail ensemble celebrating mogra buds

Her third collection at Paris Haute Couture Week, I am Nature, comprised 32-piece looks, revealing her tried-and-true design vocabulary but with intended commercial sense. The styling direction for the collection clearly indicated that it was Indo-Western bridal fusion - kick-flare hemmed dresses/tunics paired with a hybrid of palazzos and shararas. The last look was the ultimate white wedding tease - a fishnet skirt/lehenga and cord bodice accentuated with 3-D mogra buds.