Designer Gaurav Gupta is set to showcase his Summer/Resort 2019 collection with an opening show at The Royal Opera House, Mumbai on January 29. The (Un)folding– the collection brings together the delicacy of handwoven fabrics with the sharpness of the designer’s signature gravity-defying patternmaking.
The collection will showcase elements that are unique to Indian design: embellishments and textiles and highlights the designer’s love for origami folding and fluid-structural construction. The range includes many firsts for the label. Lucknawi Chikankari makes an appearance, draped into demi-couture dresses. As does a very particular tone of yellow that’s traditionally called basanti, literally the essence of sunlit Spring. Benaresi brocades are fashioned into deconstructed lehengas that are perfect for a modern bride on a destination wedding. Even his menswear features chikankari and brocades in unexpected ways.
Through playful dresses, pantsuits, sari-gowns, and eveningwear, Gaurav Gupta showcases a vision of modern Indian design using the best of traditional zardozi work, chikankari, and handwoven brocade textiles. To this, he adds handcrafted, 3D flowers in organza and soft georgette, and glams it up with a judicious smattering of crystals.
In keeping with the lightness of chikankari — an ideal technique for spring-design — the colour palette features mostly pastel shades like powder blue, yellow, ivory, rose, and the likes. And along with his scaffold-like construction, these tones form the designer’s vision of a glamorous, powerful Spring 2019.