Add panache to your wardrobe

Fashion designer Shilpi Gupta’s latest collection offers a range of traditional and contemporary outfits, and blends Indian embroidery and craft.

Designer Shilpi Gupta (in blue, fourth from left) with her collection adorned by women from all walks of life.

Think of a wedding and everyone from a bride to her mother, sister, sister-in-law and aunt want something unique. Though there are plenty of stores in the market, seldom do we come across the one that caters to the needs of every member. Keeping pace with the changing preferences, fashion designer Shilpi Gupta launched her latest collection ‘Aks: The Reflection’ in Delhi. The collection was inspired by the Indian weddings.

“Weddings in India are such a grand affair and I thought of adding my style to these weddings to make them stylish. I have tried to create different outfits for different functions: be it shagun, haldi, mehendi, cocktail party or the D-day. These cater to young brides as well her family,” she shares, while talking about the collection.

The collection blends Indian embroidery and craft. In fact, she is one of the designers who eyes Indian art and architecture and uses them in her designs.

“We are a very artsy brand. We want to create art in our collection and are constantly thinking of new concepts. We take inspiration from paintings and palaces instead of focusing on prints,” she clarifies.

This collection is also high on art. It is divided into two parts: traditional and contemporary. “The classic look in this collection is in the form of Banarasi sarees that have been created using a chandi ki taar and sone ki polish. I have added gold hint to several outfits to match their look to Indian aesthetics,” she says.

To create traditional outfits, Gupta used velvet, moga silk and raw silk. However, for contemporary ones, she introduced fabric from Milan and New York to show the two sides of the world.

Both collections are unique in their own ways. While traditional outfits accompany age-old techniques, contemporary outfits include unique draping techniques. For instance, semi-precious stones and crystals have been used in a lehenga that comes with a jacket and dupatta.

Besides the techniques, the designer’s outfits come in different styles, cuts and colours. When asked why she played introduced such diversity in outfits, she stressed that this was done to not only make the outfits available to brides, but their mothers, aunts and even bhabhis.

“Till date, in a lot of Indian communities (like Marwadis), mothers wear lehengas. So, I created the classic and heritage look for mothers and a lehenga with a coat is for today’s modern brides. That’s why the entire collection comes in different colours. These outfits are also designed keeping cultural values of different communities in mind. That’s why none of them have deep cuts in blouses and all come with sleeves,” she shares.

This collection is further diversified into two segments: Sitara and Gota. Sitara pays an ode to today's Indian woman. It uses unconventional fabrics, innovative embroidery techniques, unusual ornamentation, and chic colour palette. Gota is inspired by the traditional technique of weaving or applying gold metallic yarns into the fabric.

The entire collection is available at the designer’s store in Defence Colony, New Delhi.