What Makes Gaurav Gupta the Forerunner of Modern Indian Couture

In a world of sameness that threads Indian fashion, Gaurav Gupta is India’s most radical couture export—sculpting emotion, mythology, and futurism into garments that command global attention. While most Indian designers have stayed safely within the bounds of Indian tradition, Gupta has defied every rule — taking the sari to the Grammys, sending cosmic couture down Paris runways, and dressing the world’s boldest celebrities in looks that feel more like sculpture than fashion.

From the Met Gala and the Grammys to the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes, Gupta has become a red-carpet regular and a designer of choice for those who dare to wear the extraordinary. If the momentum of the past few years is any indication, Gupta isn’t just having a global moment — he’s shaping the future of fashion itself. From Cardi B’s sculptural blue gown at the Grammys that electrified the fashion world and now has its own identity–called the Cardi Blue to Megan Thee Stallion’s sublime ruffled red-carpet look at her Oscars debut to Beyoncé wearing the label on her Renaissance World Tour, Gupta’s creations have captivated Hollywood’s style elite, blurring the lines between art, architecture, and fashion. I recall him telling me about his design philosophy, “I am driving a non-conformist culture which is liberating at the same time.”

But long before the world caught on, Gupta had already been redefining the idea of Indian couture. When Gaurav Gupta launched his label in 2005 with his brother, he didn’t just enter the bridal space — he disrupted it. Back then, Indian bridal wear meant lehengas and saris, and anything outside that framework was unheard of. But Gupta rewrote the rules with a new design language — one that fused couture precision with sculptural drama and a subdued, modern palette. His now-iconic sari-gown blurred lines between tradition and innovation, creating a silhouette that felt both reverent and radical.

A Celestial Ceremony of Storytelling

With Quantum Entanglement, his latest and most ambitious bridal couture collection, Gupta steps into the sacred terrain of Indian bridal wear — not to follow its rules, but to reconfigure its universe. This isn’t bridal couture as we know it — this is bridal wear as cosmic poetry. “It’s a celebration of love that transcends time, tradition, and terrain,” he says. The muse? The new-age Indian bride — “She is fearless and fluid, unbound by convention but deeply in tune with her roots. She sees her wedding not as a performance, but as a powerful transformation, a portal to a new realm of self-expression and not conforming to norms.”

Couture has always been about storytelling for Gupta, but in Quantum Entanglement, the narrative becomes deeply personal. “This is a story of divine union — not just between two people, but between worlds, energies, and legacies,” he reflects.

To Gupta, bridal couture is not about performing tradition; it’s about transcending it. “Today’s bride doesn’t see her wedding as a spectacle — she sees it as a transformation. For me, it’s about the intensity of intention. Some pieces are deeply maximal in this collection; they’re layered with texture, drama, and emotion. Others are minimal in form but maximal in impact. The new Indian bride doesn't follow rules—she creates her own. And that gives us the freedom to explore dualities like minimalism and maximalism.”

Heirlooms of the Future

Speaking about creating heirlooms, Gupta says, “The collectability lies in their timeless innovation, whether it’s a sari-gown with age-old zardozi or a lehenga that is handcrafted with the most beautiful of brocades, it's an emotion, a memory in the making.” "Standout pieces from our bridal show include a revived cascading lehenga from his 2016 archive, now reborn in handwoven brocade with updated techniques. It was ahead of its time then, and it’s even more relevant now. Nearly a decade later, we have revisited it and crafted it in handwoven Varanasi brocade, layered with innovative techniques,” he shares. Other looks pair antique embroidery traditions with razor-sharp futurism — proof that Gupta doesn’t just honour craft, he re-engineers it for now.

Behind each ensemble is an atelier of artisans (over 600) who have grown with Gupta over the years. “Some of them have been with me for over a decade — they understand the abstract language I speak in,” he says. The process is slow, intuitive, and deeply collaborative. “We start with an idea that feels emotionally resonant and technically impossible. From there, our atelier breathes life into it through countless fittings, embroidery trials, and sculptural play. Every ensemble is a labour of love, involving master artisans, pattern makers, and embroidery karigars working in harmony. I begin with a concept sketch, and the vision of the end result is always in my mind. What you see on the ramp is not just couture, it's a communion of many hands and hearts.”

India to the World

Indian couture is becoming a language of expression, not just an occasion. The global runway is ready, and we’re just getting started. And so is Gaurav Gupta. With every sculptural drape and mythic silhouette, he is shifting the gravitational pull of global fashion — one cosmic creation at a time. “What excites me most is that the world is finally tuning into the sheer depth, diversity, and ingenuity of Indian couture. We are no longer boxed into the idea of ethnic or traditional— we're now being celebrated for the depth of our innovation, craftsmanship and narrative design,” he asserts.