Gaurav Gupta raised concerns about climate change with his collection Melt at the Amazon India Fashion Week. D Singh reports
It’s always a good idea for a designer to root for a social cause through his collection. That’s something which Gaurav Gupta did while showcasing his autumn-winter collection titled Melt. The show was sort of an appeal to people to pause and reflect on the dire global issue of climate change. With tunes of Earth Song by MJ being played in the background, he aimed at making the atmosphere quite contemplative. The models emerged out of the billows of smoke adding to the sombre mood. His signature aesthetics of edgy asymmetrical silhouettes in bold monochromes mingled well with the darkness of the evening.
The environment-conscious collection was conceptualised because of the capital’s raising pollution levels. “The world and our city in general is getting worse with alarming pollution levels. Some parts of the world, as we know it, are either going to freeze or melt. So it has been in my thought process for a long time to come up with a collection that will force people to think about what is happening and will happen to the world we live in, if we don’t start a change now. It made me pensive about how things melt and that’s what inspired this collection. There is a feeling of melancholic apocalypse in the collection,” said Gaurav Gupta.
“The embroidery has been inspired by global warming which reminds me of meltdown. The entire collection consists of colours taken from fire, from a flaming orange to a dark blazing blue, then absolute black in coal deep fire and shades of ashes in grey to absolute white ash. All in all it’s a very contemporary take on climate change,” the designer added.
The collection was full of shades of ashes and coal to fabrics that were structured with fluid suitings, neoprene, sparkling jerseys and silk, forming long molten gowns. Some of the garments in the collection are zero-waste garments which reinforce Gupta’s concerns about his cause. He has made sure to use the draping techniques in a way that there is no wastage of fabric at all.
The structured collection included long molten gowns, asymmetric jackets with trousers, structured embroidered jackets and capes, flared empire silhouette and flock-coat gowns, which might work well keeping the nip in the air in mind. But it was more of an evening, even a red carpet collection.
The one-shoulder gowns with silver accents highlighted with twisted hem and ruffles made for an interesting diva look. There were flared dresses highlighted with bling motifs. Gupta’s another all-time favourite, the high neck, was mixed well with the sleek body-hugging dress. What created the ultimate drama was the train with a pair of bodice and pants. Then there were gowns with intricate necklines and sheer backs and gloves which took the glamour quotient to another level. There were also a few wide-legged wrap-up pants for that high drama.
photos Pankaj Kumar