Rahul Mishra Brought Sufism to the Ramp at Paris Haute Couture Week
His fall 2025 couture collection ‘Becoming Love,” traces the seven stages of love…
At Paris Couture Fashion Week, Fashion designer Rahul Mishra offered a quieter kind of spectacle. His latest show, Becoming Love, was inspired by the seven stages of love in Sufi philosophy, attraction, infatuation, surrender, reverence, devotion, obsession, and death, where each piece traced an emotional arc, from luminous gold to solemn black.
The show opened with light, soft organza, golden embroidery, and fluid silhouettes that hinted at early desire. A standout moment arrived in the form of a heavily embellished gown featuring a hand-embroidered interpretation of Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, a 163-year-old painting reimagined in thread, bead, and motion. It was as much a technical feat as it was an emotional one.
“Sufism articulates the evolution of love through seven stages: attraction, infatuation, surrender, reverence, devotion, obsession, and finally, death. This season, we are discovering this transformative passage of ‘Becoming Love’,” wrote Rahul Mishra, in an Instagram post about his collection.
As the show progressed, the mood deepened and the embroidery grew denser, palettes darkened, and silhouettes became more sculptural. For the wedding season, the bride-to-be must bookmark beaded embellishments and heavy threadwork as used by Mishra’s for some extra drama and fun at cocktails and sangeet night.
Highlights From The Rahul Mishra Couture Collection Show
Lisa Haydon walked for Rahul Mishra in a white corset dress
Lisa Haydon returned to the runaway after 2019 Lakme Fashion Week, she wore Rahul Mishra’s signature style sheer sequin dress with floral and shimmery details.
Cardi B in a burgundy rhinestone dress
Last month, she dropped a teaser for her new album, “Am I the drama?” in an avant-garde outfit designed by Rahul Mishra from his spring couture collection 2025. The artist was seen on the front row. Cardi B wore a red rose-sculpted gown with massive 3D floral appliqués by Rahul Mishra.
The Kiss
RM’s took inspiration from Gustav Klimt’s art. The Partner’s work focused on the female body, and The Kiss, from 1908-1909, is housed at the Upper Belvedere Museum in Austria.
The Threadwork
His collection showcased techniques of aari threadwork, dabka, zardozi embroidery, naqshi and fareesha embroidery. He also used beads as embellishments, freshwater pearls, kundan work and sequins woven in satin, velvet, tulle and organza fabrics.
In Becoming Love, Rahul Mishra did not chase spectacle rather, he traced the emotion. And in doing so, he reminds us that love, like couture, takes time and stages.