India, Jan. 27 -- Rahul Mishra knew the theme long before he knew how to make it real. Alchemy, his Spring 2026 couture collection, did not emerge from trend or timetable but from a slow accumulation of curiosity: about the Panchabhuta, about quantum physics, about how something invisible could still be felt with precision. Even before a single silhouette was drafted or a technique tested, Rahul Mishra knew that he wanted to give form to something that is fundamentally invisible. "I've been thinking about this for a long time," Mishra says. "Somewhere deep inside, I knew it would take an exceptional amount of precision, talent (everything) to create it the way I wanted to see it. This was the right time to attempt it."

That restraint to ...