Interview | Designer Rahul Mishra and Reliance Brands discuss their joint venture and new RTW brand

Darshan Mehta, MD, Reliance Brands Limited (left) and designer Rahul Mishra

The young Indian designer known for his slow fashion, 3D embroidery, obsession with flowers and air and architecture, the first to take Indian couture to Paris consistently, is now all set to create a ready-to-wear brand with one of India’s largest private companies. Rahul Mishra has been a big part of new India’s fashion story, as has retail giant, Reliance Brands Limited (RBL). In fact, this announcement — of the 60:40 joint venture between RBL and Mishra — comes while fashion critics are still deconstructing the tiers of petals and voluminous sleeves in his Paris Couture Week Spring 2022 show from January 26. Meanwhile, RBL has been on a JV spree since 2018, partnering with Indian fashion’s biggest names: Satya Paul, Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna and Raghavendra Rathore.

“Rahul has a strong beating heart for design… But if he didn’t have [a strong business sense], he wouldn’t be able to nurture a brand for 15 years! We will be the bouncing board,” Darshan Mehta, MD, RBL