Story

Powerful, individual and expressive accessories. Designer Michelle Lai established the MISCHA label in 2004 as an expression of her aesthetic aspirations and passion for vintage finds. Using the most stunning Japanese silks, MISCHA reinvents vintage luxury by transforming these precious textiles into gorgeous modern accessories.

The MISCHA Vintage Couture pieces are delicately handcrafted in an intense labour of love. Using vintage Japanese obi and kimono handpicked in antique treasure troves, each individual piece is then accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.

The Travel series was launched in the Summer of 2010, after years of design work, MISCHA's signature print was unveiled. The Travel series is inspired by the frequent traveler and features classic totes and accessories made using coated canvas and hand stitched leather.  MISCHA aspires to create pieces that transcend time and season, complimenting a woman's sense of personal style and elegance. 

From pastime to profession best depicts the journey Michelle Lai has undertaken to bring the fashion world what is known today as MISCHA. A medical-school graduate in London, Lai happened upon an old friend and it was the kismet of this chance encounter that led to the conception of what the brand stands for today. Equipped with the decision to give up her original career path, she removed from storage her vast collection of vintage kimono and obi, and these treasures served to become the building blocks of what would later propel a living room project into an international brand.

A good dose of globetrotting ways and a passion for the ancient arts, alongside a fearless fascination of found objects, big and small, is the inspiration behind MISCHA. As with many good things, Lai started small, and began to stitch and hand sew her first collection, in a labour one can only hail as love.

In her early travels to Japan, a nation’s fading culture was discovered; embodied in the mounds of forgotten kimonos and obis at various antique markets – a sure sign of modernising times. With one eye placed on the past and the other looking to the future, the rediscovering process began. In went the precious silks, needles, precious stones, and thread, and out came the most precious of clutches, each unique and each carrying a their own story.