Designer Shaily Gupta grew up surrounded by the arts since she was merely five years old. Her ultimate source of joy involved sewing clothes for her dolls, leading to the first time it struck her that fashion could be more than a hobby. As someone whose strong suit is observation, design comes naturally to Shaily. Her love for the field bubbled up even before she realised.
The designer’s new collection’s titled, Taral, is borrowed from a Hindi word that translates to fluidity. The key narrative of the collection revolves around the act of letting go and going with the flow. It’s a journey of transition from a mental state of angst and overthinking to introspection, and finally letting oneself free of the weight of thoughts. These phases have been symbolised, seeking inspiration from fluidity and the myriad contrasting forms of water. Harsh, aggressive waves to gloomy rain drops, ripples symbolising confusion, a free fall of water that speaks to you about letting go, and finally, happy bubbles that signify a blissful weightless state.
Shaily tells us more about her journey.
The Practice
Interestingly, for the longest time I was in a conflict about how I could have a purposeful and meaningful career in fashion. Coming from a family of doctors, I see people’s lives directly getting better, and I saw myself wanting to find a similar purpose through fashion. Two areas I seem to have found relevant with this are, firstly, working with the artisans' sector of India, valuing craftsmanship, and secondly, working consciously and sustainably. Working on my final graduation design collection at NIFT Mumbai was a great kickstart to realising my ambition towards starting my own thing.
Taral
I envisioned my work to be guided by edginess, sensuality, and to exude elegance. It addresses a global woman, gliding her way through life. The brand voice talks about letting go and going with the flow, and enjoy the ‘present’ as it comes. All garments come as a result of strong emphasis on hand work and tailoring. Attention to detail, while working with rich, selectively sourced knitwear and woven fabrics. The key concepts that the brand works on are multi wearability and zero waste — the ability to wear the same garment in different way, and not intending to let any fabric scrap go into the trashcan by intellectually designed patterns and using the cut-and-sew waste for appliqué.
The Process
All my collections have a metaphorical story that runs alongside the main inspiration. Always seeking ideas from the concepts of philosophy and subtle spirituality, my work portrays transition. Taral is a transition from angst and unrest, to a stage of denial, confusion, figuring out, and finally, letting go. The variety of forms of water, and each of them, depicting such a different mood, amazed me for the longest time. All the memories and photographs from my daily interactions with water became my source of inspiration. I believe in balance, so my way of projection of that balance through fashion is by showcasing an interesting dichotomy of polar opposites — of minimal with maximalism, of structure with fluidity.
The Fashion of Now
I have a very simplistic approach towards fashion. To each its own, and I feel everyone should ‘just be’ donning fashion that makes them feel confident. And not for the sake of fitting in, so to say. Nothing beats authenticity of self.
Text Unnati Saini
Photographer Sidharth Sabu
Direction Sakshi Wankhede
Film/ VRX Pranav Jakhar
Hair & Makeup Alina Hasan Rizvi
Date 10-10-2022
