“Couture is already very exclusive, so for me, the experience did not need to become bigger or louder,” says couturier Gaurav Gupta, “It needed to become more personal.” On October 5, 2026, the Indian couture house opened its doors to their first permanent showroom in Paris. Founded in 2005, the Delhi-based luxury fashion house first debuted at Paris Haute Couture Week (PHCW) in 2023 with their collection Shunya, returning year after year ever since.
Now, as the first Indian designer with a permanent spot in the French capital, the couture showroom marks a landmark moment in not just the house’s journey spanning twenty one years, but also a milestone for the presence of Indian fashion globally. Fulfilling a long-held dream, Gupta intends the showroom to be a space where couture can exist beyond the temporality of Fashion Week, where clients can finally have an intimate couture experience that is at once attentive, personalised, and intently slow.
Located within Paris’s ‘Golden Triangle’ — the city’s most luxurious district, home to some of the biggest fashion houses, boutiques, and luxury hotels — the showroom spans 300 square metres, inhabiting a 1930 Art Deco building designed by French architect Charles Lemaresquier, at 6 Rue Jean Goujon, in the 8th arrondissement. Bearing decades worth of experience, the showroom will be led by Jean-Paul Cornut, who has earlier worked with Elie Saab, Givenchy, Dolce & Gabanna, and Valentino.
Ahead of the launch, Robb Report India sat down with Gaurav Gupta to explore the need behind a permanent international address, the unending role of Paris in the house’s journey, and what it means to offer a new way for the world to experience the immeasurable talent of Indian fashion and craftsmanship.
Robb Report India (RR): Having showcased at Paris Haute Couture Week since 2023, what made this year the right moment to move from showing in Paris to having a permanent address there?
Gaurav Gupta (GG): Over the last few years, we have been getting multiple requests from clients across the world to meet us in Paris, whether they are from the US, the Middle East, the Far East or other markets. They wanted to experience the couture, have pieces customised for themselves and access the complete couture service of the brand. So the Paris space really came out of that demand.
After showing in Paris for the last few years, it felt like the right time to create a more permanent relationship with the city and with our international couture clientele.
RR: What does having a permanent showroom allow you to do that a Fashion Week presentation cannot?
GG: [Paris Haute] Couture Week is about presenting a collection and creating a moment, but a permanent space allows us to continue that relationship throughout the year. Clients can come in by appointment, see the couture in a more intimate setting, try the pieces, discuss customisation and experience the complete couture service. It gives us the opportunity to work with our clients over a longer period rather than everything happening around one particular week.
RR: You designed the showroom’s furniture and curated the artworks yourself. How did you approach blending the architectural style with your signature design language?
GG: For me, it was important not to fight the architecture. The Art Deco character of the space already has a very strong identity, so I wanted to retain that and bring our language into it through the furniture, artworks and the way the couture is presented.
I wanted it to feel very Parisian but still unmistakably Gaurav Gupta. It is more like a Parisian apartment than a conventional retail space, and the pieces within it become part of that environment.
RR: What do you want a client to feel the moment they walk in through the door?
GG: I want them to feel that they have entered a different world. It should feel intimate, personal and very special. The idea is that they are not simply coming into a store to look at clothes. They are coming into a space where they can experience the world of Gaurav Gupta, spend time with the couture and have a one-on-one relationship with the designer and the team.
RR: Why was intimacy important to you for this space and in what ways will the Paris showroom enable a more holistic experience of luxury, moving beyond the primary product?
GG: When a client comes into a dedicated couture space, they can see the complete world of the brand in one place. It is not just about the garment. It is about the environment, the art, the furniture, the accessories and the way everything comes together. The client can experience the entire vision of the house and we can curate the complete look for them, from head to toe. That is a very different experience from simply buying a piece of clothing. This is what I feel couture is really about.
RR: Looking back on the past three years of showing in Paris, how has the city’s couture atmosphere influenced your evolution as a designer?
GG: Paris has given us the opportunity to put our work into a much larger international conversation. Showing there every year has allowed us to meet a completely different audience and understand how international couture clients respond to our work.
It has also pushed us creatively. You are surrounded by some of the greatest couture houses and by an incredible history of craftsmanship, so being part of that environment naturally makes you want to keep evolving and pushing your own language further.
RR: With this being the first permanent couture showroom and salon presence by an Indian designer in Paris, what does it mean for Indian fashion and to you personally to establish that physical presence?
GG: For me, it is about creating a physical presence for Indian couture in one of the most important fashion capitals in the world. India has an incredible history of craftsmanship and couture, but I think we are now seeing Indian designers create their own contemporary language and take that language to an international audience. Having a permanent space in Paris is a natural extension of that.
Personally, it is a very meaningful milestone. We have built the brand from India and to now have a dedicated couture space in Paris, where we can welcome clients from around the world, feels like an important next step for the house.
RR: With a permanent physical home now secured in Paris, what is the next frontier for the house of Gaurav Gupta?
GG: For now, the focus is on building Paris properly and creating a strong relationship with our international couture clientele. The space is our first step towards establishing a more direct physical presence internationally. We want to continue growing the couture business, building our international retail presence and taking the language of Gaurav Gupta to more global audiences.
But I think the most important thing is to continue evolving creatively while building the business organically. There is a lot more to do, and Paris is really the beginning of the next chapter.