Indian designers shaping British fashion

Two designer labels from India have got featured in the book British

Asian Style Fashion & Textiles/Past & Present brought out by Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), London. The book talks about how South Asian textiles and styles have been shaping British fashion and dresses for centuries. Designers Gaurav Gupta and Shilpa Chavan are a part of this compilation and the rest are all British and of Asian origin. Fully illustrated images by the two designers have been printed in this 180-page fashion read.

For designer Shilpa Chavan no object is too humble to be considered an inspiration. Her recent collection, Battle Royale, shown at Lakmé Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, started with a collection of military regalia Chavan had been building for about seven years. Chavan work as a fashion stylist has become an influence on her design. When she finds a shape, be it a rubber slipper or a paper kite, the first thing she thinks of is how it could be worn on the head. Then she thinks downwards into jewelry and other accessories like badges, belts. She has transformed objects as diverse as empty plastic bottles, children’s toys, rubber chappals and market stall underwear into spectacular sculptures that rest upon the body. Her work is a marriage of art school flair, exemplified by a lack of concern about definition and boundaries, and rooted in Mumbai culture.

An alumni of Central Saint Martins, London, Gupta with his graduate collection was swiftly recognized and awarded ‘The Future of Couture’ trophy at Altaroma Altamoda, Rome Couture fashion week. Also in Italy at the Mittelmoda fashion awards he was presented with ‘The Roots of Creativity’ title. He went back there as Mittelmoda’s youngest jury member two years later. His work has earlier been awarded at the Makuhari Grandprix in Japan and Admirality Needle in Russia while he was studying at NIFT (New Delhi) 2000.

Gupta went on to working with designers like Hussein Chalayan, Stella McCartney and as art director with the Turkish prêt brand LTB. He started his label in 2006 debuting at India Fashion Week. The Italian trends and design journal Creativita lists him among designers who will set global fashion trends.