Gaurav Gupta on being a culturalist, and designing red carpet gowns for Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Jennifer Hudson

It was 6 AM when Indian designer Gaurav Gupta got a call from his good friend and his PR representative in Los Angeles, Hemasree Bose. “Gaurav, you are at the Oscars so wake up,” she said.

American rapper Megan Thee Stallion chose to wear the couturier’s ‘Fantasy Biomorphic Gown,’ that was “inspired by a mystical sea creature that transports the red carpet into a fantasy realm” for her Academy Awards debut this year.

The moment Stallion flaunted Gupta’s blue-and-silver sculpted gown at the 94th edition of the award gala, the designer started getting phone calls and social media messages from across the globe.

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“Meghan was in the best-dressed list of almost all publications globally for her Oscar appearance. The news spread like wildfire, and I didn’t even get the time to say, ‘Oh my god.’ What was really good was that they wrote the brand name correctly, and I have had personal messages on my Instagram where people were sending voice notes, saying can we learn how to pronounce your name properly. These are the moments when you sit back and feel like how can one moment be so big,” Gupta told Firstpost.

[caption id=“attachment_10520551” align=“alignnone” width=“480”]  Megan Thee Stallion at Oscars 2022 red carpet[/caption]

Stallion’s Oscar outfit was made in just five days with 1500 man-hours involved, and fittings just a day before the Oscars.

Talking about the process, the designer said, “Megan’s stylist Eric Archibald wanted something very special, and he wanted to make a statement. He saw my work through my agency in LA, and was like we need to do something. Since Meghan’s schedule was busy, he said that he wanted sketches soon. After a lot of back and forth, we zeroed down to two sketches, and then made those garments and sent them out. We made the outfit in literally five days. My factory and team were working day and night to make such a couture outfit in such a short period. Fiteen-hundred man hours were involved so we had to put different processes in place, so we could make it happen. I was personally involved, and then a member from my team flew to LA to deliver the outfit, fittings happened, and just a day before the Oscars, it all got done,” he said.

Gupta also says that he felt really emotional when Stallion posted her outfit video, and said her dress is from India. “When she says that my dress is from India is itself so emotional, and a proud moment. Also, to see yourself in magazines and publications that I have looked up to since I was a student is really heartwarming,” he said.

There is a certain rhythmic pattern that defines the design vocabulary of Gupta, who is known for his sculptural style, and probably this is the reason it was not just Stallion but Grammy Award-winning singer Cardi B, who opted for his couture dress for the music video remix of the popular song ‘No Love.’ Even singer-actress Jennifer Hudson sparkled on the red carpet for the 2022 Producers Guild Awards held at Fairmont Century Plaza on 19 March in LA, in a vintage-inspired Gaurav Gupta Couture gown.

[caption id=“attachment_10520571” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Cardi B in the music video of ‘No Love’[/caption]

The designer says that the association with these popular names in the recent past is a ‘culturalist’ association. “We as a brand, Gaurav Gupta, have a very unique style. We challenge how draping is done, and how couture is perceived. We do art couture. We don’t do regular patterns or techniques so we have our own techniques and language — it’s a whole new signature that has been introduced to the world that we have always been confident in."

“We have a very particular style, and all of these girls really appreciate that. They are culturalists, and they change the way people perceive fashion, design, and music and many things. Our brand is also a culturalist brand. We also challenge how people think of fashion so that is where we resonate. That’s where Gaurav and Cardi or Gaurav and Meghan resonate," he said.

Explaining it further with Hudson’s outfit, he said, “Her look was a more classic and golden goddess, which is also part of the DNA of the brand: glamorous, classic but at the same time, it had bits of twists. The way the lines fall or the way that cape was made — there is a science to the brand Gaurav Gupta, which is a very post-modern, couture, a new language line. This is what the culturalists of the world resonate with, and they want to celebrate it together,” he said.

Gaurav has been a successful name in the fashion industry since 2004, and with so much global acclaim off late, what is next for the designer? “I feel like I have done 0.1 percent of my creative ability. I have much more to say.  It’s a beautiful beginning, and there is a lot more to do. I don’t want to put myself in boxes. I am just a free-flowing creative spirit, who is here to create and experience that high,” he said.

[caption id=“attachment_10520591” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Jennifer Hudson at Producers Guild Awards 2022[/caption]

However, with global expansion in the days to come, Gaurav is not leaving his home country behind. When asked the reason behind not participating in the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week, he said, “India is where I am from, and I will always be part of couture shows here. We just did not do a fashion show right now because we recently did a massive finale show in October. We don’t end up doing too many fashion shows in a year so we do select fashion shows, and will obviously continue to do some of those.”

Finally, what is his take on fashion in the post-pandemic era? “All creative fields are going to see a resurgence of newness because in times of despair, a lot of innovations have formed. Creative souls are sensible all over the world, and they want to celebrate when they are feeling normal so there is going to be new creativity that is going to come around everywhere in the world. New couture is going to be formed,” he concluded.

Nivedita Sharma’s work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA. 

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