Gaurav Gupta

Gaurav Gupta is an avant-garde Indian couturier.^[1][2] Gupta's work has been featured in events such Paris Haute Couture Week^[3][4][5][6] (on invitation of Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode).^[7][8] His work is characterized by his origami style^[9] sculptural style patterns with pleating and lifting.^[10][11] Gupta is known to use traditional Indian embroidery techniques like zardozi, nakshi and dabka and borrow abstract patterns from nature.^[12] He holds the distinction of being the third Indian designer, following Rahul Mishra (who has consistently showcased since 2020) and Vaishali S (in 2021), to present at the couture week.^[7][6]

Early life and career

Gupta grew up in New Delhi.^[13] and first studied at National Institute of Fashion Technology.^[14] He completed his education in 2000 and worked for a brief while^[14] and later graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2003.^{[15][16][17][18]} He then worked with Hussein Chalaya.^[19][15] His family works in steel and was not involved in art or fashion.^[14] He started his label, with his own name in 2005^[20][21][4] with his brother as co-director.^[13][22] However the label was properly launched only in 2006, since Gupta went to Istanbul to work as an art director in Istanbul for a company.^[14]

Gupta's business model consists of both e-tail business and brick-mortar stores in Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata^[23] and Mumbai.^{[24][5][25][17]} In United States, the business uses multi-designer store Neiman Marcus and online retailer Moda Operandi^[22] for retail.^[12] He also introduced a fine jewelry collection^[23][18] and hosted an art exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai.^[26] He has recently introduced his home decor label, displayed at Gupta's flagship store in Mehrauli, New Delhi.^[27][25]

Indian Express credited him for reviving bridal couture in India.^[28] He also collaborated with IBM to create an artificial intelligence-inspired sari-gown using IBM Watson.^[29] Lately, a collaborative effort between Gupta and perfumer Jahnvi Lakhota Nandan resulted in the fragrance named ‘Again’.^[30] Gupta was included in a British documentary for London Olympics 2012.^[31] The journey began when rapper Cardi B chose to wear his cream-toned sculptural dress in the remix video of "No Love" (March 2022).^[32]

Notable Clients/Events

Throughout the year 2022, Gupta provided attire for prominent figures such as Megan Thee Stallion at the Oscars, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at Cannes,^[33][34][35] Cardi B in a music video, as well as Lizzo, Kylie Minogue, Maluma^[8] at the Latin Billboards,^[4] and Fan Bingbing.^[7][6][36]

Cardi B in early February was seen wearing a wavy cobalt blue dress in the Grammys red carpet that was designed by Gupta. The star and creator of the sitcom “Abbott Elementary’, Quinta Brunson, was also seen wearing a Gaurav Gupta design the color of café au lait, while hosting the Billboard Women in Music Awards ceremony.^[1]

During her Atlanta performance, Beyoncé wore a distinctive neon green sari, a customary South Asian attire crafted by Gaurav Gupta, which was a part of the Renaissance world tour wardrobe, featuring three distinct looks.^[37][22]

His work has been worn by Tems,^[1] Angela Bassett, Priyanka Chopra, Natasha Poonawalla, Kriti Sanon, Janhvi Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shakira (for the cover of Billboard),^[36] Vijay Varma, Deepika Padukone,^[34] Aja Naomi King,^[38] Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Diipa Büller-Khosla, Jennifer Hudson^[8] (at 2022 Producers Guild Awards),^[10][33] Jenna Ortega (at Saturday Night Live), Jr NTR at the Oscars^[28] Mary J Blige to the Time 100 Gala,^[14][17] Bebe Rexha, Sharon Stone,^[17] Luis Fonsi, Ashanti, Thalia, Jeremy Pope^[8] and Saweetie^[13][17] and many others.^[1] Among his various global engagements was his participation in Prince Charles' annual Animal Ball charity event in London, where he crafted a masquerade mask inspired by hummingbirds.^[26] In 2019, Gaurav’s brand collaborated with Maison Bose, a luxury communication consultancy in Los Angeles.^[22]

Personal life

In an interview with Vogue Gupta shared his experiences growing up as a gay individual in 1990s India. The conversation explored the challenges he faced in pursuing his passion and how those struggles still shape his work today.^[16]