God’s Sculptor Gaurav Gupta

By Mahnum Najaf Sayal

What does one say about this man, other than that he feels like ‘the chosen one’? His couture pieces are nothing short of celestial - redefining elaborate craftsmanship through a distinctly neoteric aesthetic. A surrealist at heart, he unlocks the power of fashion’s imagination and weaves it onto the canvas of fabric.

His dream-like ensembles are envisaged as a compelling expression of the avant-garde - meticulously crafted wearable art that harmonises with the wearer’s personality. In an industry often driven by rhythm and repetition, he creates his own cadence, where fluidity, structure, and movement define the asymmetry of his designs.

If you haven’t guessed already who this man is, then you’re not fluent in fashion. Meet Gaurav Gupta - a designer who has, in many ways, personified the design and style vocabulary itself.

Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

I’ve always believed that when you burn in love, whatever ashes remain, when you rise from them and stand against all odds - that’s what true love is. Being hunky-dory and indulging in situationships don’t cut it for me. Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with the personality I’m speaking about, but I am writing from the heart.

As Women’s Month closes, we remember that fateful June - when Gaurav Gupta and Navkirat Sodhi’s courage and devotion transformed unimaginable tragedy into a story of love, resilience, and couture, turning their adversity into triumph on the runway of fashion and life.

This one man, I feel, is the chosen one because, at that moment in 2024, when life tested him in ways unimaginable, he stood tall against all odds. Gaurav Gupta and his partner Navkirat Sodhi were attending a party in Delhi, and a cataclysmic blaze changed everything for them, turning their lives upside down in the blink of an eye. The nature of the event was extremely perturbing for the heart and led to a shattering outcome. Where Gaurav suffered burns on his hand while trying to put out the fire, his life partner, his soulmate, endured burns over more than half her body, suffering unbearable pain in intensive care for several months.

Due to this catastrophe, he had to cancel his couture show at Paris Couture Week. In standing by Sodhi, Gupta sacrificed not only comfort but a pivotal career moment, proving that devotion, too, can be an art form.

And then, as if being God’s sculptor weren’t enough, the love and precision he embeds in each fold seemed momentarily tested by fate. He had to prove it yet again in the 2025 season’s show that he indeed is the maestro of artisanal craft, in all his glory of complex yet smoothly finished designs - designs meandering like a flowing river on the wearer’s body.

The only difference this time, the wearer who opened his S/S’25 show at the Paris Couture Week was none other than his partner, Sodhi, who walked the runway barefoot in a sheer pale dress that made her scars visible like medals of strength, resilience, and most of all, faith.

She reminisced about her trauma in a mesmerising poem written by her, recited in her lovely voice, against the background of tabla beats. “It’s not that I dreamt or wrote it. It happened in less than five seconds. But stranger things have happened to stranger beings on their way to dispel the dark. Let me share with you what I have learnt from a reluctant deep spark. Taller than you is your mind, smaller than you your pain. Corrupt your soul to believe, you stand only to gain, you stand only to gain. Ketamine, morphine, fentanyl. These scars, like the drug of memories, some stay, some go, so what. Visualise beyond these eyes, the skies are just the beginning of true romance. Take a chance. Don’t end your flight. Stand against light and caress your dark, face her and realise the symbol of beating life you are. We’re spirit friends, standing together, apart doesn’t make sense. When spirit ascends pirouette don’t mask the pain, the jungle burns, the wild remains. I am thunder, I am a tectonic plate, I am the wishing and the rain. I am the left over, I am the main, the whole of being is yours to claim. Taller than you, your mind, smaller than you, your pain. Corrupt your soul to believe, you stand only to gain, you stand only to gain.” - by Navkirat Sodhi.

Navkirat Sodhi on the runway. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

Gupta’s latest collection, ‘The Divine Androgyne’ - showcased at this year’s Paris Couture Week - is another testament to divine love. Energy has no shape; it is only felt. In the same way, love transcends labels and moves beyond the physical binary framework of existence. In Gupta’s vision, the masculine and feminine coexist within every being, intertwined like Shakti and consciousness, neither complete without the other. Their union, ephemeral yet enduring, merges dualities and unites individuals as one - a force that mirrors creation itself, binding the soul and illuminating the inner light we all carry.

Navkirat Sodhi on the runway. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

Gupta has always been in the spotlight for creating unique, diversified couture pieces - from structural, lean to voluminous silhouettes with his contemporary take on draping and pleating techniques. Similar designs were seen at Paris Couture Week in silks and gold breastplates, with Sanskrit written on the models’ faces, amongst many other elements.

Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

He’s also known to be every A-list celebrity’s go-to designer. From dressing up Shakira, Adele, Megan Thee Stallion to Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor - let’s just say the stars across the globe have been his clients and muses.

Shakira in custom Gaurav Gupta couture. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

Deepika in custom Gaurav Gupta Couture for the Cartier Gala in Dubai. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

Janhvi kapoor in custom Gaurav Gupta Couture at the CNN Awards in Mumbai. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

But this isn’t the reason why I chose to write about him for this particular month, or because I’m a profound admirer of his craft and skill. The mere reason is the love and devotion he exemplifies, channelling all his pain into an affirmation of love and purpose. It is remarkable how, together with his life partner Navkirat, he drew inspiration from their trajectory of loss and survival, ultimately finding their way back to gratitude through spiritual healing.

Showcasing their storytelling through the lens of fashion in his collection titled, ‘Across the Flame,’ is speechless. To be so vulnerable yet composed in the strongest language he knows is beyond beautiful.

Even the way he chose to celebrate Kiara Advani’s motherhood on a global stage through his craft left a lasting impression. People will always remember her Met Gala look, where Gupta created a one-of-a-kind sculpted gold piece, symbolising the undeniable and powerful connection a mother and her unborn child. Two hearts, carefully placed, mirrored their eternal bond. The metallic umbilical cord was bold yet poetic, depicting how one heart’s rhythm is connected to the other’s life.

Kiara Advani in custom Gaurav Gupta Couture for her debut Met Gala. Photo Courtesy - Gaurav Gupta

Titled ‘Bravehearts,’ the piece didn’t just dress her; it told a story. One that proves Gupta doesn’t just design fashion, he interprets emotion through couture.