- 1979 (MCMLXXIX)
- Living
- Indian
- Gaurav Gupta
- •Sculptural couture
- •The fluid sari-gown
- •Paris Couture Week debut (2023)
- •Beyoncé Renaissance tour
Gaurav Gupta
The Delhi-born CSM graduate whose sculpturally draped couture gowns — worn by Beyoncé, Priyanka Chopra, Lizzo — joined the Paris Couture Week calendar in 2023.
Gaurav Gupta was born in 1979 in Delhi. He studied at NIFT Delhi, then at Central Saint Martins, graduating from the MA programme in 2004. He launched his label in Delhi in 2005.
The Silhouette
Gupta’s contribution is the sculpturally draped gown: neither a sari nor a lehenga nor a Western couture silhouette, but a fabric-heavy, mathematically-constructed sweep of drapery that appears to hover off the body. The construction depends on a house-developed system of internal weighting and edge-wiring that holds the sculptural volume without corsetry. The Spring 2024 Paris Couture collection Hiranyagarbha demonstrated the method at its most ambitious.
A garment is a drawing on the body. The best drawings move. — Gaurav Gupta
The Red Carpet
Gupta’s international visibility rose sharply in 2023 when Beyoncé wore a custom sculpted gown to the Dubai performance of her Renaissance tour. Priyanka Chopra, Lizzo, Cardi B, and Deepika Padukone have worn him since.
In January 2023 Gupta was admitted to Paris Couture Week as a guest member, at the same session as Manish Malhotra — the first time two Indian designers debuted in a single season.
