Fashion designer Manish Gupta brings his aesthetics to Bangalore

Delhi-based fashion designer Manish Gupta brings his aesthetics and designs to Collage today.

You’re bringing your Autumn-Winter 2011 collection to Bangalore now — isn’t it a little too late in the day?
I know it’s the Autumn-Winter collection, but the fabrics and colours that we’ve used are more suited for the months of February and March. There are no heavy silks; in fact, I’ve used georgettes, chanderi, silk cotton, kataan etc for the designs. And as for the colours, there are golds, black, teal, ivory, fuchsia etc in the collection.

What designs can we look forward to in this collection?
There are quite a few dresses and kurta sets in this collection. But these aren’t the simple ones. We’ve used quite a few innovations; variations like gathers, panelling etc will be there. In fact, we’ve focused on variety a lot in this collection.
Apart from that, I am also bringing in the Manish Gupta Luxury Line into the city for the first time. This is the more expensive and festive collection that starts at Rs50,000 and goes up to Rs1.8 lakh.

How do you set yourself apart from other players in the same genre?
What we do at this label is play with basic cuts and focus more on textures and fabric. You have to understand one thing — Indians never really wear completely Western garments; there is always an Indian touch to it. I design accordingly; so you will find a lot of embroidery but they don’t look like it. The work is very tonal, classy and never in the face.

Do you think Bangalore is ready for someone like you?
This is the first time I am showing my collection in Bangalore. From what I have learnt, the city is very price sensitive and has a different kind of taste. I don’t quite favour bling on clothes in general so that’s one thing Bangalore will be happy about. It’s also the reason I am coming to the city to show the clothes because I want to be able to interact with people and explain to them what I do. People will always have a certain kind of mindset and it’s important to address those issues directly. If I don’t make my future clients aware of what I do and the hows and whys of it, why would they buy my stuff?

What kind of inspirations go into your collections?
I am very fascinated by architecture. In fact, if you notice closely, a lot of my designs comprise that inspiration in the form of embroidery. I also have floral influences. In general, I have a team that works with me and we sit and create the designs; but before everything else we decide on the colour palette and then move on to the silhouettes.

Don’t you follow the international colour palette?
For us it doesn’t make sense to follow the international colour palette because that is created keeping completely Western clothes in mind. We create our own palette.

Are you ready with your Spring-Summer 2012 line?
Yes, it’s currently in production. The new line has ivory as the base colour where we’ve used different shades on top if it. We’ve used beads, silks yarn embroidery and also woven lace together to create fabric for the new collection.

One final question, how important do you think discipline is when it comes to being successful in your business?
You know, the public sees us as the ‘glamourous people’ because they identify us through our fashion shows. But these shows are for five to 10 minutes — after that it’s over and it’s not glamourous behind the scenes at all. It’s extremely important to be focused and disciplined in order to be a successful designer. I come to work at 9.30am and work till at least 6.30pm. You have to give your business time in order to sell — after all it’s also a business!