BEYOND COUTURE, INTO CATHARSIS

In a world obsessed with fleeting trends, Gaurav Gupta designs with intuition — giving form to grief, glamour to resistance, and meaning to every sculpted silhouette

-  BY ANANYA SHANKAR

The internet loves a label — and Gaurav Gupta has earned more than a few: “avant-garde”, “rule-breaker”, “the future of couture”. But none of them quite capture the essence of a designer who draws inspiration from everything — time, movement, art, surrealism, architecture, nature, the cosmos. His world is one that’s driven by intuition, not intent — where nothing is absolute and everything is fluid.

It’s this transcendental quality — the way he balances form and flow — that has drawn celebrities from across the globe to his creations. Most recently, and perhaps most memorably, Gupta designed Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s dramatic black gown for Cannes this year — a striking departure from her usual choices, one that instantly went viral.

“When I met Aishwarya, I’d taken a few samples from some of my Paris collections and some of my early work. We decided on the embroidery and colour we liked, but I was clear — I wanted to do black,” recalls the designer. “Also, after a few years of Aishwarya wearing larger-thanlife silhouettes, I wanted something elegant and timeless for her. That’s the conversation we had when we started.” The finishing touch? A distinctly Indian element — brocade — woven into the structure.

From Bachchan to Beyoncé (for her Renaissance Tour in 2023), Cardi B (for the Grammys in 2023), and Megan Thee Stallion (for the Oscars in 2022), Gupta’s gowns have been bringing both form and flow to international red carpets.