All sequins and glitter

Suzy Menkes, fashion diva and critic for the International Herald Tribune can’t find a seat; irritated journalists are yelling at the much-harassed staff of the London Fashion Week - it is the Ashish Gupta show, jam-packed with people straining their necks for a glimpse of the models sashaying down the ramp to a techno version of Lionel Ritchie’s Hello. Gupta’s Autumn/Winter 2005 fashion show has been a runaway hit.

Not only that, it is his second trip down the famous ramp that marks the start of the international fashion season. Not too many Indian designers have done the same so far. “I am a Delhi boy,” says the 31-year-old designer with a disarming smile, disabusing you of the notion that he is a British Asian. He elaborates, “I don’t know where the press got this idea from. I was born in Delhi, and went to school and college there. I only came to London for my masters.” This was after the National Institute of Fashion Technology (nift), in Delhi, rejected his application! “Perhaps I checked the wrong box. I was devastated,” he jokes. Undeterred, Gupta went on to do a postgraduate course in fashion from Central St Martins, one of the premier fashion schools in the world. His debut collection in 2001 was bought by Browns, the Mecca for hardcore fashion lovers.

In a notoriously fickle industry, where designers come and go like a flash in the pan, Gupta has built a strong fan following. Women of all ages, and from Japan to New York, are clamouring for his designs. He rattles off a long list of celebrities who wear his clothes: “Keira Knightley, Sharon Stone, Jerry Hall, Elizabeth Jagger, Kelly Osborne, Sarah Jessica Parker - even Bryan Adams, although he bought them as gifts for friends.”

Quirky, individualistic to the extreme, and stylishly witty, his clothes are for people who refuse to take themselves seriously. His Autumn/Winter collection 2005 is a melting pot of polka dots, multicoloured stripes and bright prints, liberally sprinkled with sequins. Some silhouettes resemble the traditional salwaar-kameez, and the knee-length full skirts resemble truncated ghagras. But Gupta denies any such intent. “When John Galliano at Dior does an ‘Indian’ collection, he does it in an obvious, brilliant way. His outsider’s perspective adds distance. In my case, the Indian influence on my designs is purely at a subconscious level. I leave it to the press to make the connections,” he says.

The clothes are manufactured in India. His mother oversees the factory where a team of highly skilled workers translate the designs from paper to cloth. Gupta says, “I take inspiration from our rich craft tradition, but my aim is to move it forward so that it evolves into something new.” Sequins and glitter form part of the designer’s signature look, but he gives them a contemporary touch. He divides his time between London and Delhi. He dwells on his attempts to make a name in the Indian capital. “When I first started out in India, I tried hard to break into the fashion industry - to get sponsorship and media attention. It simply did not happen. Perhaps I did not know the right people,” he says.

In the UK it was a different story. “I had all sorts of organisations willing to sponsor me, from the Canadian High Commission, which backed my first off-schedule show, to high-street retailer Topshop and the British Fashion Council which selected me as part of their New Generation Showcase, an initiative that supports new designers,” Gupta adds. Coupled with a lot of hard work, the support has started paying off. Gupta is living every budding designer’s dream. Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily have given his collection rave reviews and, more importantly, so have the international buyers. That Gupta has managed to break the glass ceiling in international fashion is all the more creditable, considering that it was done by an unknown designer, who never sold a single article of clothing in India.

Gupta showed his collection at the London Fashion Week, on February 14.