Mira Kapoor takes the spotlight in Studio 22’s theatrical new campaign

For A/W ’26, Studio 22 invites its audience into a world where fashion meets performance.

Titled Encore, the collection draws from the theatre:  from the anticipation of a curtain about to rise to the drama of the stage, the pause between acts and the exhilaration of the final curtain call. But rather than simply taking inspiration from theatrical dressing, Studio 22 approaches the collection as a performance in itself, with every look, moment and movement becoming part of a larger story.

At the heart of this world is Mira Kapoor, who becomes the muse and protagonist of Encore.

Mira enters the story not as an actor playing a role, nor simply as a celebrity wearing the collection, but as a woman experiencing an evening at the theatre. The narrative follows her through three distinct moments: The Arrival, The Performance and The Stage,  as she moves from observer to protagonist.

The evening begins with The Arrival:  Before the Curtain.

Mira arrives at the theatre, receives her ticket and makes her way through its elegant, atmospheric interiors before taking her seat. There is a sense of anticipation in the air — the quiet before the lights go down, the audience settling in, the feeling that something is about to begin. She is, for now, an observer.

When the curtains open, the story shifts into The Performance: Inside the Music.

The familiar language of the theatre gives way to something more dreamlike and abstract. A conductor-like figure, dressed in gloves and a suit, moves a baton as music, shadows and light become part of the scene. The stage begins to spill into the audience, with its light falling across Mira’s face and drawing her deeper into the performance.

Mira appears in a striking red look, creating the campaign’s most dramatic visual punctuation. Against the darkness of the theatre, the colour feels almost like a stage light in itself:  bold, arresting and unapologetically theatrical.

And then, the relationship between audience and performer changes.

In The Stage — The Transformation, Mira appears alone on the theatre stage. The audience has disappeared. The space is stripped back, leaving her surrounded by the scale and silence of the theatre.

There is no choreography and no conventional performance.Instead, Mira simply occupies the stage.

The camera observes her in a moment that is still, cinematic and quietly powerful. The woman who entered the theatre as an audience member has become its central presence. She no longer watches the performance; she has become part of the world herself.

This movement from observer to protagonist  lies at the heart of Encore.

Through Mira, Studio 22 explores the idea that fashion can transform not only how one looks, but how one enters a moment. The collection plays with the drama of evening dressing while retaining the sense of individuality and ease that allows the wearer to own the room rather than simply dress for it.

With Encore, Studio 22 celebrates the theatre not only as a place of performance, but as a place of transformation. The anticipation, the spectacle, the pause, the drama and finally the applause all become part of the fashion story.