Rahul Mishra was announced as the winner of the India and Middle East selection for the 2013-14 International Woolmark Prize. He spoke to Goter Gangkak about his design inspired by the white lotus
While most in Delhi were busy with the Bridal Fashion Week, at not-so-far-away land history was being created. Rahul Mishra was announced as the winner of the India and Middle East selection for the 2013-14 International Woolmark Prize, during the event held at leela Hotel. Chosen among the 10 nominated designers coming from India and Middle-East, Rahul won a chance to represent India and Middle-East in Milan. Well-known designers such as Dev R Nil, Amit Aggarwal, Pero were seen competing against each other.
“I feel amazing,” stuttered an emotional Rahul. “It’s one-of-a-kind platform for young designers. The feeling is still sinking. looking at it as an opportunity, it’s a creative expression and at the same time commercial,” he added.
Mishra is the first non-European designer to win the prestigious scholarship at the Istituto Marangoni, Milan.
The judging panel included Peter Ackroyd, president of International Wool Trade organisation; Imran Amed, founder of The Business of Fashion; designers Martin Grant and Manish Arora; Simon lock, CEO of The lock Group; and Fashion Design Council of India president Sunil Sethi.
His winning design had graphic embroidery with Merino Wool yarn on Merino wool jacket dress. The design had an essence of authentic Indian craftsmanship and weaving technique.
The winner shared his inspiration, “I tried to make wool as an all season kind of fabric through my design. Wool is the purest yarn. It’s closest to skin, animal fibre and no killing involved is involved in its making. The second important inspiration is White lotus. It’s the forefront of my design, in Buddhism it’s a known fact that everything in the world is created from white lotus. The graphic originates from eight petal lotus to morph in complex structures.”
For the next six months Mishra will develop a capsule collection in Merino wool, to be showcased alongside four regional finalists hailing from Asia, America, Australia and Europe. He has plans for finals at Milan.
“You would see lotus morphing into buildings and different objects,” said Mishra.
Pankaj and Nidhi, who participated at the final round of the International Woolmark Prize last year, could not make it to the last level. “It was a close competition. But for me the final product is not as important as the thought put behind it,” concluded Mishra.