Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna Return to Mumbai with Noir Botanica at Galeries Lafayette

Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna presented Noir Botanica, a new capsule collection, at Galeries Lafayette Mumbai on 20 August 2026, staged after hours as part fashion presentation and part late-night salon rather than a conventional runway show. The evening brought together music, movement, and clothing inside the store, framed by the designers as a world after dark rather than a straightforward showcase.

The collection marks a deliberate return to fundamentals for the label. After several seasons spent building increasingly elaborate presentations, the designers describe Noir Botanica as a step back toward what they consider the core of their practice, making clothes with strong silhouettes and genuine handwork that remain wearable in daily life rather than built purely for spectacle. The capsule spans both menswear and womenswear, reworking the house's established vocabulary of precise tailoring, sculptural shapes, and dense embroidery into a more concentrated edit.

Evening dressing runs through the collection via sharper tailoring, altered proportions, sheer panelling, corsetry, and sculptural construction. The visual language draws on architectural ornament, botanical form, and the human body, translated by the label into pieces intended for present-day wear rather than costume. Texture carries much of the collection's identity: signature molten surface finishes sit alongside sheer fabric, while zardozi, hand-thread embroidery, and handcrafted lace are set against laser cutting, embossing, and metallic detailing. The embroidery itself is treated with weight and relief rather than as flat decoration, worked across textured silk, velvet, crepe, cashmere wool, and chiffon through appliqué, fringing, and the label's signature braided technique. The palette stays close to black and its neighboring tones, oxidized silver, charcoal, gunmetal, and chalk white, with olive introduced as a newer addition to the range.

Galeries Lafayette Mumbai shaped how the evening was built. The designers reimagined the store after closing as something closer to a Parisian room after dark, with jazz, evening dress, and atmosphere standing in for a conventional runway format. The presentation leaned on the mood of 1930s evening culture without recreating a specific period, aiming instead for the intimacy and heat associated with that era. Guests were kept close to the clothing throughout, a choice intended to let the construction and craftsmanship register at close range rather than from a distance.

The evening closed with actor Vijay Varma and drew a wider mix of actors and cultural figures from Mumbai's creative circles. Galeries Lafayette India, part of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, positioned the partnership as consistent with how the store has framed itself since opening, as a space built around the intersection of fashion, culture, and experience rather than retail alone.

Noir Botanica was created for the upcoming season and is not limited to the single evening. Following the presentation, the capsule will be available at Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna stores and at Galeries Lafayette Mumbai. Jewelry for the evening was provided by Mahesh Notandass and Vandals, with Volvo and MAC involved as the automobile and beauty partners.

FACT BOX

• Designers: Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna

• Collection: Noir Botanica

• Venue: Galeries Lafayette Mumbai

• Date: 20 August 2026

• Closing appearance: Vijay Varma

• Partners: Mahesh Notandass and Vandals (jewellery), Volvo (automobile), MAC (beauty)

• Availability: Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna stores and Galeries Lafayette Mumbai, from the presentation date onward