From Couture to Campaigns: Runway philosophies catered as an experience

Rahul Mishra’s ‘Becoming Love’ and Vaishali Shadangule ‘kintsugi’, where binding threads and golden scars create a symphony.

Who am I today?

I am not just a writer, but someone who habitually tries to understand every nuance of couture fabricated by fashion maestros around the world. The opted palette, shredded fabric, amplified subtlety, and visionary approach aren't just presented overtly but rather a sight for the onlooker to desire a deeper understanding of it. But the metaphor exhibited remains far from what is observed by a peripheral vision of it. 

Exploring the concept of runways, which provides insight into the designer's inspiration, the show aligns perfectly in terms of portrayal and pseudo-experience. But far beyond grasping a couture, imagine getting an immersive experience in the form of campaigns that align thoughts with the complete perception of a storyteller.

For years, the lore of sales has always depended on the storyline created around it. Yet, the exquisite nature of couture has always left a vacant space for experimental marketing. Fairly enough, preserving it from slipping through the thin line of commerciality remains a hardship to overcome in this domain. But, a quiet consideration with measured framing can elaborate a moment in the industry worth establishing on the global forefront.

"My mind is a space that transcends

The world is where it articulates

For every metaphorical vision

A climactic tapestry presents an exhibition"

Rahul Mishra has been a pioneer in showcasing fashion as not just outfits, but rather an emotional connection embedded within each one of them. While he appeared in Paris Haute Couture Week for the 11th time, his runway showcase ‘Becoming Love’ was paralleled with the Sufi idea of the seven stages of love. What looks like an 11:11 dream, the portrayal was intricate with flowers and threads, classic Rahul Mishra style.

The seven stages of love: Dilkashi (Attraction), Uns (Attachment/Infatuation), Mohabbat or Ishq (Love), Aqeedat or Akidat (Reverence/Faith/Trust), Ibadat (Worship), Junoon (Madness/Obsession), and Maut (Death, signifying the death of the ego), were carved in every intricacy of attire.

Now this is where my creative instincts pave the way to a marketing storyline. I see the collection as an immersive experience. Approaching every bit of it with intrigue and delicacy, an invite-only gallery exhibit serves as a preliminary exhibition and unveiling of the theme before the grand revelation.

“Crafting stories, curating fragments, and portraying canvas.”

No reveal yet detailing every hint to pace the talk around. Sufism can be put forth within 7 various setups partitioned with traditional pathways developed jarokhas as if a window transcending into a different realm.

Each chapter of love articulated by ornaments, visual narratives and poetic tales, shadowed with hues from windows, is further curated distinctly across storylines.

The instinctive Dilkashi flourished in jasmines and warm red light, silk drapes flowing light and pearls all around. The stage of attachment, Uns can be based on knotted ropes, patterned walls, eventually overlapping, and whispering tweets of birds. Mohabbat, being red zari work alongside velvet drapes, expanding sights to  Aqeedat with swans and candles. Sounds of soft sitar and bells, respectively, contribute to the ethereal feeling. The palette getting darker by the stage, the love flourishing, and the theme reflecting passion; it's not just a person walking by but a soul embodying it all. 

Thinking from a viewer’s perspective, the front row seat to the couture show the next day would be much more enthralling.

A similar ideation can also be used for Vaishali Shadangule Fall/Winter Collection 2025, based on Kintsugi. 

When the world finally comes to the pace of embracing every essence of itself and its surroundings, imperfection seeks notice as the new hymn of the divine. Showcasing that while glorifying the adjoined togetherness with golden scars, is what Vaishali Shadangule taught us all in her new showcase.

Placing the blocks of my ideation, I seek this opportunity as a call for people to bring their broken pieces alongside. Think about this: a music box, a charm received from mother, a teapot for generations of stories to tell, and a wedding china detailed in flowers, but now glared with a fractured self.

Entering a traditional Tatami room with heritage placed asymmetrically, honouring the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi. A single golden veil around, flowing with the wind and an attempt to fill the space left empty behind. A resonance of Izanagi & Izanami:  their story has love, loss, and rebirth. Partially enough, the creation of a new island, just as the Japanese mythology inspires their story to be implied in a setting of the launch of the fall/winter collection. Alongside, the bouzouki played in broken notes, systematically tuned in an orchestra by the end of the event. 

Yet, the most sought-after segment remains that of Japanese craftsmen repairing the ceramics live with scars rusted in gold, an authentic performance of kintsugi.

Metaphorically enough, the event symbolises every aspect of a broken heart and the process of healing.

Scars left, but essence enriched.

Letting my wings flare off for one last time (for this blog, obviously), I see these two showcases as coming together as one greater experience as well. Dwelling into the whole journey of falling in love by means of Rahul Mishra couture and the brokenness left behind, to rejuvenating in Vaishali S’s collection. Recommending such a mix of binding threads and golden scars to create a symphony, I transcend this space as an open ground for experimental marketing and sketching experience for the sphere of couture.

Onto the next thought

-Nishka Jariwala