Gaurav Guptas ode to lace that he handcrafted or the hybrid lehenga-gown that he created as well as the Zaha Hadid potato chips-like architectural silhouettes he manipulated on nimble shoulders made him an undisputed superstar.
By Asmita Aggarwal
Sometimes a show stopper kind of takes away from the mastery of your clothes, you dont really need her to get attention as you already have enough ammunition in your arsenal. Gaurav Guptas gowns that slithered on the curves of a womans waif thin body made enough of a statement with their superlative garment construction and the gravity defying angelic winged wonders made an impact more than the rather delicate, fresh-faced, pint-sized Hyderabadi beauty Aditi Rao Hydari.
Gaurav had the first movers advantage in an industry that was saturated with bridal lehengas and with women wanting to express their individuality, he seemed to have all the napalm, they desired. Things that clung to their bodice, sculptural shapes and architectural motifs that ranged from castles to, of course, flowers.
The Zaha Hadid wafer building-like gowns cart wheeled on the catwalk, as Gaurav also experimented with the pant-suit for women with flared bottoms and capes in white, a colour that you would not associate with an auspicious occasion like a wedding, is now finding favour and there are no longer any negative connotation attached.
Every single artwork, every single embroidery has been developed in-house. This time we have developed our own lace ?from scratch, with layers of pearls and different beads and sequins etc, and different types of zardozi techniques. Each lace has gone through a process. There has been a lot of back and forth in developing these laces on different fabrics, explained Gaurav.
What was marvellous was the way he placed his embroidery, forming interesting geometric patterns and shapes on fitted gowns that came with shimmering bodices. And so was his take on the jacket that boasted of exaggerated collars or the new silhouette which is a cross between a lehenga and a gown, and is also off shouldered, making Gaurav a force to reckon with in a crowded market that often misses the boat as far as invention goes.
So was his take on lehengas with duppattas attached at the back giving women ease, comfort and breaking free from the rigour of constantly rearranging her duppatta at her wedding. These small touches go a long way in how designers are adapting to the new-age bride, who craves for a bridge between the aged and the new-fangled.
Pearls (Lupita Nyogos £97,000 Calvin Klein dress that she wore to the Oscars in 2015 had a waterfall of pearls set the motion of designers using these till now ignored embellishment) have overtaken zardosi this year, and Gaurav generously sprinkled them all over his batwing sleeved, opaque blouses that were tucked into his zari lehengas, in gunmetal greys, it was a ultra cool take on the silhouette, which had withstood centuries of transformative techniques, but is still a must in all weddings, despite the invasion of gowns, a very Western concept.
And when a designer leapfrogs into the next chapter of his journey by shedding his old skin and by initiating thoughtful silhouettes, it makes the wait for the show worth it.
Thats just what Gaurav did, he impressed us with not just his overpowering techniques (some only Lady Gaga would wear, we got to admit) but also enduringly modern appeal and fearless choices.
In his style playbook, he also added pleats in cappuccino hues and what were prodigious were the fabric manipulations that Gaurav executed with the precision of a goldsmith chiselling his way through a Columbian ruby.
The swirling ends of his midnight blue gowns, cascading ruffles or the slashing or the infectious fabric moulding he crafted around a womans ample bosom was impeccable, and so were the pie crust Victorian collars that accompanied gowns or trains that start at the shoulder or neck which seemed ergonomically designed.
It didnt matter that they were sexy or body con and only limited to those with perfectly toned washboard abs, what made a difference was that Gaurav took a chance and didnt show the same old boring 20 kg lehengas, but worked on fresh contraptions and it is this vicissitude that makes him a front runner in a niche market that aspires to look like a movie star.