Gaurav Gupta’s packed show at Hyundai India Couture Week in association with Reliance Brands, an FDCI initiative, on Thursday, at DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, had just ended. The space done up with trippy LEDs that almost plunged you into creative infinity, was buzzing, with GG’s name on everyone’s lips. The man of the moment — Paris Couture Week, Cardi B, Lizzo, Angela Bassett and many more — who everyone wanted a picture with. Gaurav’s modern dream labour of love has been acclaimed internationally. Is the label at its peak, we asked him when we could finally get hold of him for a few minutes, post-show. “This is the beginning!” beamed Gaurav.
His Hiranyagarbha with his signature swirls, knots, twists, drapes and construction, was very much the language of the same modern dream. Full of powerful fantasy and almost-mythical creatures who bewildered you with their stark charm. Goddess-like fierce serenity. The global Indian celebrating the “golden womb... the universal womb... out of which all creation was born”. An extension of his Paris Couture Week line, Gaurav showcased cocktail lehngas, gowns, saris and “modern hybrid silhouettes”.
A line of whites started the show, followed by green, silver, electric blue and acid yellow, celebrating “air, fire, water, earth and space”.
The electric blues + boots was a compelling image, imbued with raw charisma. The women wore no jewellery and sported dewy make-up to balance the dynamic resplendence of the colour palette that added to the final visuals.
GG’s men matched his muses in style. In black and white. The shirts with in-built chiffon bow ties were super sexy. Janhvi Kapoor walked in an electric blue lehnga “adorned with 3,000 hand-embroidered bugle beads”, a piece “which took 457 man hours to make”.
Gaurav decoded the ‘GG’ mind for us!
Since when have youbeen toying with this idea?
I have been looking into Vedas and Upanishads
for a bit… my thing is India is seen as this colourful (entity)… with elephants and palaces and I think India is so much more than that. For me, India is the most ancient tribe and the most evolved way of thinking. The science, the maths and metaphysics here… that has to be celebrated. And, that’s what intrigues me about India. It’s not that I feel Indian… I feel like I am a person from the universe and I feel like that because I am from India. With Hiranyagarbha I just want to reinstate that about this beautiful Vedic philosophy. It is very egalitarian, all-encompassing, non-boxed, infinite feel in philosophy. That’s what draws me to it again and again.
Did you have a starting point?
I did not have a starting point or ending point. For me, Shunya is forever. And Hiranyagarbha is forever. I am an artist who is always inspired by… it could be nature, surrealism or fantasy, mythology. All of these layer on top of each other. There is no end and beginning to it.
Tell us about the colour scheme…
In India we took the Hiranyagarbha concept in elements of space, fire, earth, water, air. The fire was represented by neon yellow and the water was electric blue. Even we had our own iterations of these elements and how I have gotten inspired by them in colours and gone deeper into it. The space was with orbital pearl embroidery. We just let it flow.
The menswear was so nice…
Our menswear has become a staple for us and every groom in the country wants to wear it and a lot of stars internationally are wearing it. Ranveer (Singh) keeps wearing our tuxedos and suits all the time. We want to give the men something modern and out there and I don’t think there are enough choices for them. And you give it to them in a classy, sophisticated, meaningful yet an evolved way, they would lap it up and they have been lapping it up.
Your bride was so hot…
The Gaurav Gupta bride is someone who is well-travelled and her mind travels as well, who works and is not dependent on her husband’s money; is driven in life, has an artistic bent of mind. She is beautiful and she is not boxed in any way. She is happy to try new colours, embroidery, concepts.