Standing Ground and Rahul Mishra bring a new way of doing Couture to Paris Everything you need to know about the two brands

At fashion’s round tables, there are those who argue that Couture has become too commercial: according to these critics, looks have been simplified to appeal to the public or transformed into stage costumes designed to generate clicks, because by now what matters most is media engagement and which singers are sitting in the front row.

Yet precisely in these days, at Paris Haute Couture Week, two young names are proving that new-generation design is anything but simple: Rahul Mishra, who has been on the Couture Week calendar since 2020 and is the first Indian designer to officially participate, and Standing Ground, the brand founded by Michael Stewart in 2022 that debuted in haute couture last night. They have completely different visions and references, but both have presented collections that best demonstrate how the fashion system is finally changing. No longer exclusive, no longer apolitical, but young again and connected to the society around it.

Rahul Mishra’s statues

Rahul Mishra launched his own brand in 2008 after graduating in fashion design from Istituto Marangoni in Milan. In 2020, he became the first Indian designer invited to Paris Couture, and since then he has never missed an appointment. This year, the collection titled Devi: The Eternal Muse drew inspiration from millenary history, art and architecture, finding a starting point in the reliefs of Southern Indian sculptures to create garments that transformed models into statues.

The garments were specifically created in skin tones to achieve a trompe-l'œil effect, with Mishra’s hand embroidery further evoking the appearance of stone. While the colour palette remained restrained, textures and accessories reached the height of craftsmanship, with the use of metals, crystals and beads adding dimension to each look. The drama of the collection was found in the draping, the true star of the show, as well as in the headpieces, which explored the theme of feminine divinity through Hindu religious symbolism. In short, it was an incredible way to transform millenary temples into contemporary fashion, not only incorporated into the show’s setting but embedded into every single look.

Standing Ground

Standing Ground presented its first Couture line last night, and its show may have already earned the title of the most criticised of the season. But for those who know the story of Michal Stewart, the brand’s founder, this show represented confirmation of the designer’s anti-establishment talent.

Although it was founded only in 2022, Standing Ground’s story goes much further back: Stewart graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2017, but after spending years trying to establish himself in the challenging fashion industry, he left the sector to return home to Ireland. Only later, with the support of the Fashion East incubator, did he relaunch the brand, finally managing to impress London. It was ultimately the Savoir-Faire prize from the LVMH Prize, won in 2024, that confirmed Standing Ground as a future couture talent, leading to its inclusion in this year’s official calendar.

Last night, Stewart fulfilled a dream he had been pursuing for a long time, but one that was not met with the same level of support that the Irish designer had continued to receive since 2022. Scientific draping embraced the body with the same sculptural quality as Mishra’s statues, although unlike the Indian stone references, each look here evoked sensations of lightness and tactile comfort. A canary yellow dress (Stewart has always loved bold colours) reproduced on the front the structure of a raised fishbone-like pattern made of fabric-covered beads; another was composed of a beige velvet bodice that recalled compact sand.

It is not entirely clear why commentators such as BoringNotCom harshly criticised the Standing Ground show, even calling it boring. Perhaps they were not familiar enough with Stewart’s story, his artistic references (design as a practice of sculpting the body, the ancient in dialogue with the present through the combination of the aesthetics of ancient artefacts and the brilliance of artificial colours), or perhaps they were expecting a little more celebrity presence. But at Standing Ground, theatricality is not the goal: what matters is the sartorial precision with which Stewart approaches each look, which are not only made to measure in limited quantities and sold directly to clients, but are also presented outside the traditional calendar, therefore away from the relentless timing of the fashion system. In our opinion, there is very little that is boring about this new generation of Couture.