It’s a big year for Gaurav Gupta. The designer known for his experimental edge, marks his tenth year in the fashion industry, a time during which he quickly rose to become one of India’s most recognised designers. “It seems to have gone by very quickly,” he says.
Being chosen as the grand finale designer for Lakme Fashion Week 2015 Winter/Festive, (which came to a close August 30) is a fitting celebration of his journey. “When I started out, I was a kid who had just come out of St. Martin’s (Central Saint Martin’s College, London) starry-eyed and with lots of dreams — which I still have — and trying to shake up the world — which I still do in my own way.”
Gaurav’s LFW collection is inspired by shape and form, derived from a thought about time and surrealism. “It’s a beautiful and playful line.” Not many would confess to envisioning the success they enjoy today, but not Gaurav. “I have really been an overconfident person from the beginning. I knew that this will happen after 10 years.”
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And yet, there’s more to be achieved, he says. “I would love to get into art, films, start showing internationally on a regular basis…there are many, many things. I am too ambitious.”
Besides ambition, Gaurav is also driven by innovation which have made his designs a regular at red carpets and adored by Bollywood.
“There is a timeless beauty to what we do.” What he won’t do is Kitsch – “There are just too many elements and colours. I don’t do that. Also, showing India in a very Indian way — that’s not me.”
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Following the trend is also something that Gaurav does7 not believe in.
“Honestly, I don’t know the fashion trends going around because I don’t follow them, though I find women in jackets quite cool right now. Now, after my LFW show, sculpted designs will become a trend; that’s going be copied a lot. We started the trend of sari gowns and that’s been copied a lot too.”