If Sabyasachi is considered the darling of Indian fashion within our borders, it would be hard to find someone more suited than Gaurav Gupta as the poster boy for India in international fashion, right now. After being catapulted into the global eye, when rapper Cardi B chose to wear his cream-toned sculptural dress in the remix video of No Love (March 2022), Gaurav has since been a favourite across the planet, with even Beyoncé choosing to wear his distinctive neon green sari on her Renaissance World Tour. It’s no wonder then that when anyone talks about high-end fashion or couture in India today — one of the first names to pop up is always Gaurav Gupta.
Established in 2005 in New Delhi, his eponymous label has since always managed to make a global impact with an almost expected presence at the prestigious Paris Couture Week. The label presented their collection, Aarohanam, at the just-concluded edition of the Paris Couture Week on January 25 and Gaurav returned to this celebrated ramp for the third time in a row — an achievement he shares only with two other designers from India, Rahul Mishra and Vaishali S. After graduating from NIFT and then Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London, Gaurav Gupta, alongside his brother Saurabh Gupta, hoped to revolutionise the Indian couture industry and that desire laid the foundation for the launch of this now-celebrated label.
The designer’s creations have since been seen on Megan Thee Stallion at the Oscars; Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes; Lizzo, Kylie Minogue and Maluma at the Latin Billboards; Cardi B at the Grammys; Quinta Brunson at the Billboard Women in Music Awards and also on Tems, Angela Bassett, Priyanka Chopra, Kriti Sanon, Janhvi Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shakira, Vijay Varma, Deepika Padukone, Jennifer Hudson, Jenna Ortega, Jr NTR, Mary J Blige, Sharon Stone and Ashanti, to just name a few. The brand’s atelier, located just outside Delhi, however, roots the brand in its home country and serves as the hub of its creativity, involving over 600 artisans in seamlessly merging indigenous construction and embellishing techniques with the label’s unique approach to Indian fashion. We catch up with designer Gaurav Gupta to talk about his latest collection, Aarohanam and also discover the ideas that went into the now-celebrated edit that has hit shelves in stores.
“Our previous collection, Hiranyagarbha, made a mark at the last edition of the prestigious Paris Couture Week and in that, I had envisioned milk-white gowns cascading gracefully, structured capes with halolike allure; and jackets adorned with nakshi, dabka and zardosi work paired seamlessly with straight-fit pants. In Aarohanam, this time around, I’ve drawn inspiration from the Sanskrit concept of ascension, symbolising a journey from the tangible to the ethereal. Reflecting the awakening of the kundalini, the idea was to capture the transformative stages through a colour palette ranging from absolute black to the rising flame in agni orange. The silhouettes, I hoped, would play with volume and mirror the flickering dance of a flame dissolving into limitless space. Through cropped jackets, exaggerated capes and sculpted metal structures adorned with indigenous techniques, this surrealistic tableau was aimed to echo ancient Indian texts like the Vedas. It was almost pictured like a serpentine odyssey from electricity to the brilliance of light,” begins Gaurav.
Aarohanam means the act of rising, ascending or mounting in Sanskrit and can also mean ascending scale of notes in a raga. Keeping that in mind, the colour palette in this edit is carefully curated in shades of absolute black, agni orange, reflective sand and ether blue that mirror the nuanced stages of this transformative journey from idea to a finished piece of work. The silhouettes are adorned with the label’s signature sculpting art and each piece — be it a cropped jacket, exaggerated cape, fluid trench coat or sculpted metal structure — is embodied as a narrative woven with rich indigenous techniques — badla, mukaish and zardosi — illuminated by multi-dimensional crystals that have been added for luminescence.
“Our last collection Hiranyagarbha embodied a captivating narrative with its milk-white gowns, structured capes and unconventional colour stories. Aarohanam, on the other hand, signifies a distinct shift in theme and style. It captures the chic essence of spiritual ascension — a journey from the tangible to the ethereal. The colour palette, silhouettes and techniques are different for both collections. Hiranyagarbha featured architectural ruffles, hoods and intricate embellishments, whereas Aarohanam explores unique silhouettes drawing inspiration from ancient Indian texts,” explains the designer.
Driven by a passion for art, dance and music that he traces back to his childhood, Gaurav believes his childhood pastime of sculpting with clay, gave him an early connection to the world of creativity, something that his current role as a designer is defined by. If he was not a designer, Gaurav feels that he would have been a dancer or an architect, echoing his love for artistic expression. Art, after all, to him, is beyond mere motifs. “The motifs in this edit, however, are of special value to me,” Gaurav re-emphasises as he takes us through the collection.
“Aarohanam unveils motifs inspired by the kundalini awakening — a visual narrative reminiscent of a coiled snake shedding old skin for a refined rebirth. The sculpt - ed metal structures and effortlessly draped trench coats that I have added exude an easy-breezy ambience of spiritual ascension. The colour palette also has been chosen to elevate the entire couture narrative with a spiritual sophistication evident in every meticulously crafted stitch,” he adds enthusiastically.
Curating a selection of fabrics to complement this spiritual narrative, the designer has chosen to work with chiffon, woollen suiting and tailored textiles that aptly serve as the canvas for this collection — each chosen for its unique texture and drape. The handpicked fabrics are enriched with indigenous techniques and these materials not only enhance the tactile experience but also contribute to the overall narrative, something that we are told, was, “done with intent.”
Switching gears to our last question, we ask Gaurav the inevitable: what’s next? “A future collection is in the works and all I can promise is avant-garde silhouettes that you need to keep an eye out for,” he concludes.
Price on request. Available online.
Mail: romal@newindianexpress.com
X: @elromal