FLYING COLOURS

From showing at the Paris Haute Couture Week to dressing Jr NTR at the Oscars designer Gaurav Gupta has had a fantastic year. And he says he saw it all coming

- ANJULY MATHAI

Walk into designer Gaurav Gupta’s 5,500sqft flagship store in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, which opened earlier this year, and you feel like you have walked into a space capsule. The pristine white interiors are sculpted into curved surfaces and forms. The muted colour palette—mostly white and grey—is meant to highlight the garments, hung on mannequins on the second floor. A winding staircase leads there, and when you walk up, there is a spot where the slanting light falls in a specific angle. Standing there, you feel like you have just been given access to a sunlit corner of Gupta’s mind—where whimsy and playfulness jostle with structure and order.

“I want everyone who comes to Mumbai to make the store a must-visit destination,” says Gupta.

His clothes are just as otherworldly as the space in which they are displayed. Satins and crepes enhanced with metal coil embroideries. Lehengas and gowns with exaggerated ruffles and structured silhouettes. Dresses decorated with glass beads and pearls. Tuxedos with bold lines and metallic accents. They are perhaps best described as “frozen art”, and this is the year in which they really came into their own.