"We try to produce magnificent emotions. We try to celebrate the notions of creation and matrix, by exalting the forms of the female body", explains to AFP Rahul Mishra, a few days before joining Paris.

"If the cosmos were to have a gender, it would be feminine, and it would be a mother," he points out.

Until the last minute, the 43-year-old Indian designer hesitated to adorn two large fish, with silver scales, on the neckline of the emblematic dress of "Cosmos", his extravagant collection designed all in embroidery, as usual. .

"It makes her very special," he admits.

"But it is already so loaded with details, I fear that with the fish, it will be less subtle to wear, less natural," he worries.

"Allegory of the Big Bang"

In her eyes, the dress represents "the true cosmos in its ultimate manifestation".

Moreover, his team spontaneously calls him "Cosmos".

"She alone justifies the name of the collection", he continues with satisfaction, "she is very beautiful, I like the silhouette too..."

Against a midnight blue sky, the bust of the dress comes alive with somewhat naive subjects.

A blue whale and schools of small gold and silver fish evolve in the middle of constellations and multicolored landscapes.

The dresses from the new collection of fashion designer Rahul Mishra in his workshop in Noida, January 13, 2023 in India © Money SHARMA / AFP

"We intentionally tried to make each subject very identifiable (...) in the way that a child could represent the cosmos", argues the couturier, "there are so many things that happen when you try to create the cosmos. A Big Bang has happened."

A whole magical world, with an insane abundance of shimmering fauna and flora, seems to spring from a vaporous black and gold cloud, billowing at the bottom of the dress underlined by a short train.

"It's very close to the sketch", he adds contemplating the work, "I was very scared at the beginning, I wondered how we were going to get there (...) now, I look, it's a dream come true".

Six days before the show, nearly 30 pieces left Delhi, including an astonishing monochrome trench coat, embroidered with silver skyscrapers and sparkling galaxies, or even a frilly bustier with shades of blue sequins evoking the waves of a azure sea.

"Full of life"

"We work like an art studio that tries to mix techniques, to assemble ideas, in order to create a new expression that is not necessarily and only fashion," he argued.

Rahul Mishra exhibits the fluidity of an extraordinary jellyfish dress, designed with translucent veils and shimmering sequins.

Fashion designer Rahul Mishra works on a dress from his new collection, in his workshop in Noida, on January 13, 2023 in India © Money SHARMA / AFP

"Our dresses are full of life, they grow, grow and unfold", he rejoices, pointing elsewhere to a long dress with straps, sewn with green tree leaves, slightly pink, populated with ladybugs in gold metal. .

"Cosmos is a universe in constant expansion, the colors, the material, the technique, the art: literally everything is amplified", he says.

His creations were, last year, magnified by movie stars like Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh, appearing on the cover of major fashion magazines.

A few days before this new parade, small dilemmas persist.

"I have to choose between two roads, so I'm a little hesitant, but it's a nice mood," says Rahul Mishra.

But in her mind, one thing is certain: "it has to be spectacular, otherwise why create more? There are already so many beautiful clothes in the world".

© 2023 AFP