Gaurav Gupta (Q4124)
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Gaurav Gupta is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Gaurav Gupta |
Gaurav Gupta is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2007
fashion designer
Gaurav Gupta was forced to cancel his fall couture show in Paris last month due to an urgent personal matter; this collection was presented in a private showroom and via a video on social media instead. It was an unfortunate circumstance for Gupta, who joined the Paris couture schedule in January of last year and has since enjoyed a hefty boost in global attention thanks to celebrities including Beyoncé on-stage during her Renaissance World Tour, Mindy Kaling at the 2024 Met Gala, and Kelly Rowland at the Cannes Film Festival.Walking through his collection over a call, Gupta said that he looked at an ancient Indian mantra that highlights the idea of “jyotirgamaya,” which he explained translates from Sanskrit as the journey from darkness to light. This idea was evident in his use of color, with a tight palette that ranges from black to a soft sand tone with hints of deep burgundy. Gupta has made it his signature to explore spiritual inspirations through intricate embellishments and sculptural shapes, but over time his silhouettes have evolved to adapt to who he is dressing, becoming more pragmatic and considered. This balance was particularly present in this lineup.“I wanted to make core pieces that are unique yet more wearable,” said Gupta of the more understated pieces in this collection: a corseted LBD, draped skirts in black and ivory, a couple of tailored jackets, and a fantastic pair of flared trousers. among them. Some of these received the Gupta treatment with ornamental metal plates or mesmerizing embroideries, but others were left plain, breaking promising ground for the designer.“It’s hard to not have every look be dramatic and embroidered and beaded, but I’ve made a conscious effort the past three seasons in Paris to see clients and understand what they’re buying and wearing,” he said. “I’m seeing the lifestyle of the client, sometimes they need a gown or something very unique, but sometimes they need something else they can dress up or dress down.” This newfound practicality is likely to grant Gupta some essential staying power.
9 July 2024
Backstage before his much-delayed spring couture outing, Gaurav Gupta offered a meditation on its spiritual inspirations, such as the Sanskrit wordAarohanam, or the mudra, a symbolic gesture that would soon emerge as a brassiere cast in bronze. “Ancient cultures were so much more progressive, they didn’t even have to talk to each other to communicate,” he said. “Everything means something.”For his third couture outing in Paris, the designer continued to draw on his country’s rich embroidery tradition, working his self-described futuristic-primitive vibe in a way he called “almost meteoric.” This was particularly evident in mirror-and-crystal embroidery he said was inspired by kundalini, the energy of divine love, rendered here to mimic snakeskin on a cropped jacket with a bodhi-inspired skirt, or a hefty gown. (The inbuilt corset, he noted, ensured even weight distribution).Further along, Gupta expanded on a house signature, using corsetry wires to fashion a giant sky blue wave on a black column dress, or give a flame orange bustier gown a volcanic eruption of a skirt. Those are the kinds of silhouettes that make Gupta a favorite among pop icons including Beyoncé (during her Renaissance tour), Cardi B (at last year’s Grammys), and Megan Thee Stallion (2022 Oscars), but the designer said that working with an increasingly international clientele has prompted him to try to work a little differently.“The global client travels so much, living multiple lives in Monaco, Paris, and New York, so she’s able to live out multiple different layers of fantasy,” he said, adding that he is learning to lean into restraint (all things being relative). It may well be that those cast bronze bras turn up on a red carpet in the months ahead; ditto the gradient blue waterfall gown. But when it comes to IRL dressing, the simpler looks—a black column gown, a pearl gray trench—looked like the most likely contenders.
26 January 2024