A chat with Masaba Gupta is never usually restricted to fashion. The multi-hyphenate youth icon who loves reinventing herself is refreshing to talk about life with. In a recent chat about her festive 2023 collection Ila, Masaba spoke to us from the heart about the need to pick your icons well, and more.
The collection looks gorgeous!
The new collection is called Ila. This is the most commercial offering from the House of Masaba for the festive season. I just feel that there are times when the brand has to understand balance and I think while we have taken time to understand it, we have finally grown to really get it. I feel you can do the art stuff, the cool sweatshirt with candy and camera, the ranicore sari which has the Masaba print written on it, but for any brand to really find a place in people’s lives and wardrobes, you have to find that balance of commerce and art. I think this is that collection.
When I design a collection, I only think of comfort because be it Ganpati (festival), Durga Pujo or something as simple as Rakhi, or Karva Chauth… people just crave for something that’s a statement but also very comfortable. This is such an interesting time, starting from now until Diwali.
I don’t think our weather allows us to really have so much fun with fashion. I had a blast designing this collection and only wearability was on my mind. I think of women carrying their chappals in their bags and then quickly changing from chappals into heels and back again into chappals. I think of those things when I think what a salwar would look like or the one-shoulder dress would look like. Can you pair a kurta with jeans and also wear it as a dress?
Ila is versatile and it’s for a woman on the go. Nowadays, I think all women are on the go. It is important that we design clothes keeping them in mind.
The saris are so fab…
I think my saris have become simpler and lighter as they are moving forward. We have stopped complicating things. The embroidered ones are my favourite. There is a red crushed sari with a single paan patti on the sleeves and the bottom is just foil. The white version we have done is on cotton and it’s got tassel work on the hem. What I have also grown to understand is that people want something they can pair jewellery easily with. Even if you see the saris, a large chunk is much simpler, in solid tones and minimal work because I want people to style it the way they style it. But there is a surprise element. If you turn around, the palla has a giant paan patti. There are lots of dori work and delicate gota patti work. I feel people’s brains are so clogged that they can’t give a thought beyond a point to what you are wearing. These should be those pieces. The saris are solution-driven. Can I jump into a cab or train or a fancy car in them?
What are festive classics for you?
Definitely a fun printed kurta and a really baggy salwar with no work on it, just print-on-print. We have done a lovely lily-print kurta. I am loving that and we have done them in four colours this season.
The second thing is a plain, white Chanderi kurta that you can pair with jeans.
Then, a black statement sari, which could be cocktail, party sari and which you could wear during the day too with a pair of dark glasses and accessorise with diamonds. Super simple.
A simple, gold or silver choker. A hansli or something antique-looking, which looks like it has been in your wardrobe for years or something that has been passed down to you, and you can practically pair it with anything, be it a white shirt, kurta or sari. It can be in gold or silver or whatever your style is.
A pair of really well-fitted black leggings, which are impossible to find, (laughs), which are not transparent and are comfortable. You can wear jootis with them or heels with them.
Definitely the kajal… the Nazar Na Lage kajal by LoveChild.
A really nice fragrance that you like.
A cool, nude lipstick, like a universal nude, which is easy to go from day to night.
Your brand was ahead of its times and you are such a youth icon. Now with social media completely changing the game, how are you seeing more and more girls embracing themselves and owning the world?
As excited as I am about the youth and what they are doing with themselves, I am a bit concerned as well. Unfortunately, the people that they may be following as role models or looking up to, I don’t know if all of them are the right role models. Some of our role models have set very unrealistic expectations for how you look. It is impossible to look great every single day. As much as you are saying that the younger generation is more confident… of course they are… smart, sharp and intelligent than what we were when we were kids. We had what I call an ugly-duckling phase and that was single-handedly the most impactful phase of my life. If I didn’t have that phase and did not go through the braces and the acne and just not liking how I was looking, I would not be what I am today.
A lot of these girls are not going through that phase and a lot of girls are getting surgery really young. I didn’t have the option of putting a Paris filter on my face and now in hindsight, it was very liberating…. Today, it’s impossible. Even if you read stories about girls who deal with acne and facial hair... a lot of them would be like... ‘It’s taken us some time to come out and be comfortable’. It’s not like they are cool with how they are from Day One.
I think people are growing up very soon and they are growing up without having to go through a phase that isn’t exactly one to their liking. I have no problem with someone who has done surgery or Botox or who loves to look a certain way, but I think it’s time you own up to it so that younger women have the opportunity to know that this is why this person looks the way they look.
Yes, they are confident, but when you are living so much of your life on social media, it can be crippling to find out that a lot of people you look up to may not necessarily look like that all the time or at all. So, pick your role models with great care. I also feel that it is an amazing time in the world to be a woman because they are knocking open so many more doors and we have women who came before us to thank for this because they led the path.
Fashion is having such a moment because people are finally saying, ‘We are going to experiment and have our own style’…. A lot of people have personal style today, which is great for fashion because we are also becoming so much more experimental with what we do. Brides are becoming smarter and more conscious about what they spend and why they spend it. It’s a great moment because finally, people are opening up to the idea that Indian make-up brands have enough and more power to compete with global brands and actually we understand Indian skin far better than most of them do.
Ila by Masaba Gupta