Rahul Mishra Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rahul Mishra

• He spent his early childhood on farmland in a small village called Malhausi in Uttar Pradesh. Describing his childhood in an interview, he said,
  

  Experiencing the fresh smell of the first rain in a kaccha (muddy) courtyard, running barefoot on the grass, and visiting farms every day, I had a very humble and down-to-earth childhood. From making paper planes to boats I did everything. I remember spending most of my time on a Jamun tree during summer afternoons.”

• He was a shy and under-confident kid who used to stammer.

• He was home-schooled till the age of six.

• Later, when he joined a school, his fee was Rs. 7 a month. In an interview, he recalled that all the students used to sit on rugs and not benches at school.

• He would finish homework under the light of a kerosene lamp because of frequent power cuts in the village.

• His father was a government doctor who was frequently transferred to different places. Therefore, Mishra moved around a lot with his family during his childhood.

• An intelligent student, he got a double promotion from Class 1 to 3.

• At the age of 10, he enrolled in the boarding school Maharishi Vidya Mandir in Lucknow.

• There, he developed an interest in art & craft. He used to draw comic characters like Chacha Chaudhary, trees, and flowers.

• He scored the highest marks in biology in the UP Board exams because of his real-looking diagrams of body organs.

• He was also into sports.

• Mishra’s father wanted him to become an engineer or doctor as he was good at academics.

• Following his father’s advice, he graduated in physics at the Kanpur University. However, Mishra wanted to do something creative. Therefore, he ran away to New Delhi in 2002, where he lived with his sister for a while.

• Although Rahul had no sense of fashion back then, he applied to NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) and NID (National Institute of Design) and the likes to pursue art.

• He failed to get admission in 2002 but secured a seat in apparel design at NID in 2003.

• Apparel design wasn’t his first choice. He applied for a filmmaking course, but he was given apparel design due to his educational background.

• While studying apparel design, he would also attend filmmaking, furniture, and animation classes at NID.

• He acted in a college film called Saawan ki Ghata (2005), uploaded on YouTube, in which he played the role of a journalist.
  

  Rahul Mishra as a journalist in the college film Saawan ki Ghata (NID FVC 2005)

• At NID, most of his classmates had worked with established Indian designers like Rajesh Pratap Singh or had a fashion business background. Meanwhile, Mishra joined NID after graduating in physics.

• Rahul met Divya at NID. It was love at first sight. She was three years junior to Mishra. He talked about it in an interview and said,
  

  When she joined, I was already on the verge of leaving for Milan. During my stay in Milan, I realised how much I missed her. My friends would go out and party on weekends, and I would be sitting in my room, talking to her on Skype! When I came back home the next time, I proposed.”

• Mishra’s professor from NID M.P. Ranjan educated him on Mahatma Gandhi, highlighting how he fought against social discrimination and worked towards uplifting the lower classes in society. This urged Mishra to work with local artisans and handloom clusters in India to give them a platform to do business and make money. In an interview, he said,
  

  My role here is to give these people a name, a face. Once they get the popularity, they can expand their business. I can make money anyway; there are a thousand other sources to earn. But I do what I do to satisfy my soul.”

• Apart from that, he is also inspired by the works of Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, American businessman Steve Jobs, British-American designer Jony Ive, and American architect Buckminster Fuller.

• In 2005, while attending NID, he travelled to Kerala to work on a collection with the local handlooms and textiles.

• He met Padma Shri Awardee Padmanabhan Gopinathan on his train to Kerala who introduced him to handloom.

• During his one-month stay in Kerala, he developed a 12-garment reversible collection for which he received the prestigious Pride of NID and Best Student Designer of the Year award (2005).

• In 2006, he debuted at the Lakme Fashion Week in the “genNext” category with his reversible Kerala collection. The clothes could be worn inside out and were designed especially for people who love to travel.
  

  Rahul Mishra during his debut at Lakme Fashion Week (2006)

• In an interview, he talked about his debut show and said,
  

  I had ₹10,000 and the show was in Bombay (Mumbai). So I took the sleeper-class train (from Ahmedabad), put my collection in a carton. I didn’t have shoes for models to wear, so we got Kolhapuris from Colaba, and made the models carry bells in their hands as accessories (laughs). And the show received a standing ovation.”

• Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee called it “a dream debut.”

• In 2008, he started the joint venture The Apple Tree to market his eponymous label.

• In 2008, he married his college sweetheart Divya.

• In 2009, he showcased at Wills India Fashion Week in New Delhi.

• After that, Mishra was offered to showcase his collection in Paris in the same year. However, he refused as he felt he wasn’t ready.

• In 2009, Mishra became the first non-European designer to win a scholarship to Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Italy. He had a year-long stint at Marangoni.

• He was featured in a National Geographic Channel documentary made in collaboration with UNESCO & Ministry of Textiles, India.

• Mishra is well known for promoting Indian craftsmanship. He has worked with the Khatri community in Bhuj, who did bandhani work for Mishra. The Koli family from Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, were associated with Mishra for projects on Chanderi fabric. A Muslim family in Kolkata did hand embroideries for his label, and the Ansari family from central India created the Maheshwari weaves.
  

  Rahul Mishra with his artisans

• He never returns rejects to the craftsmen or deducts their money if a fabric or design is spoilt.

• In an interview, he said street dogs and cows always inspired him.

• In 2013, Rahul Mishra became the first Indian label included in Rent the Runway, an online rental boutique.

• He made headlines when pop queen Beyoncé handpicked a Rahul Mishra dress for her collaboration with Rent The Runway. It was a yellow hybrid version of his Spring/Summer ’13 sheaths.
  

  Beyoncé modelling Rahul Mishra’s yellow sheath as part of her collaboration with online rental boutique Rent The Runway in 2013

• In 2014, Rahul Mishra gained international attention when he took his collection “A Ferryman’s Tale” to Paris for the spring/summer 2015 showcase for the first time.

• In 2014, Mishra became the first Indian designer to win the International Woolmark Prize at the Milan Fashion Week. bagging the Australian $100,000 prize. He won the prize for his clothing line ‘The Lotus Effect,’ which featured non-winter garments created using wool. The line of clothing aimed at providing livelihood to wool weavers in India.

• Thereafter, he was named in the BoF 500, the Business of Fashion list of the names shaping the global fashion industry

• His work was featured in London’s Victoria & Albert Museum from 2015 to 2016.

• In 2015, he made his India Couture Week debut with his collection Tree of Life.

• Following this feat, fashion critic and international fashion editor of Vogue Suzy Menkes regarded Mishra as a “national treasure.”

• Italian journalist and editor Franca Sozzani praised Mishra’s work as “successfully highlighting the best and most peculiar features of his homeland.”

• In 2016, Rahul Mishra was listed in GQ’s 50 Most Influential Young Indians of 2016.

• In 2017, he became an ambassador for Milan’s Istituto Marangoni, Italy

• In the same year, he opened his flagship store in Mehrauli, South Delhi.

• In 2018, he opened his flagship store in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai.

• In the same year, he accused an Indian ethnic wear brand and a French label of copying his designs. He sent legal notices to them.
  

  An image showing a comparison between Rahul Mishra’s design and the ‘lookalike’ created by an Indian ethnic wear brand

• In July 2019, he presented an 18-piece collection for fall 2019 couture at the Paris Fashion Week.

• He showcased his Spring Summer 2020 collection at the Paris Fashion Week in collaboration with the luxury jewellery brand Zoya.
  

  Rahul Mishra with models dressed in Zoya jewels and Rahul Mishra’s SS 2020 collection at the Paris Fashion Week 2019

• In 2020, he became the first Indian designer to be invited to showcase at the Haute Couture Week in Paris.

• He presented the collection ‘Metropolis 1’ at the Haute Couture Week. The collection featured his signature 3D embroidery lightweight dresses.

• In 2022, he partnered with the conglomerate RBL for a ready-to-wear brand in a 60:40 joint venture.
  

  Designer Rahul Mishra with Darshan Mehta CEO of Reliance Brands Limited

• In an interview, he regarded Bollywood actress Rekha and Indian politician Indira Gandhi as the most well-dressed women.

• He encourages the concept of slow fashion. In an interview, while talking about the same, he said,
  

  I also want to celebrate slow fashion. Just like fast food is bad for your body, fast fashion is bad for mother nature. I want to slow down the process — both in terms of making a garment and also in terms of making garments that have a longer shelf life, hence really slowing down fashion.”

• In an interview, when asked who was his favourite muse, he said,
  

  My wife, Divya.”

• He loves listening to listening to TEDx Talks.

• Throughout his career, Rahul has styled numerous celebrities and influential figures, including Zendaya and Mark Zuckerberg, for prestigious events and official occasions.
  

  Zendaya wearing a saree designed by Rahul Mishra on the opening ceremony of NMACC in 2023

• He is a teetotaler.

• In an interview, he said that he would have been a cricketer if he had not been a fashion designer.