The Way I Work... Ashish Gupta
In our series where we look at the things, places and people that inspire a creative’s working life, Pia Brynteson meets fashion designer Ashish
For more than two decades, British-Indian designer Ashish Gupta’s eponymous label has captivated fashion enthusiasts with its exuberant and joyful designs. His journey started at Central Saint Martins fashion school in London. After graduating in 2000, a serendipitous encounter with a buyer from retailer Browns Fashion – who had spotted one of his embroidered tops – led to an order. He then returned to India to develop a collection of high-glamour pieces, and in 2001, his label was born. Today, Ashish designs his dopamine-inducing garments in his East London studio, infusing them with a cultural melange that often incorporates political and social commentary. Most recently he has partnered with the William Morris Gallery on the Ashish: Fall In Love And Be More Tender retrospective. The pioneering voice in fashion sat down with Service95 to discuss what continues to inspire him creatively, his working rituals and much more.
On Working Rituals… My studio is in Hackney, and I usually work from there. I worked from my kitchen table when I started and over the pandemic, but I really prefer not to do that now. It’s important for me to have a separation.
On Music To Work To… I love to have music when I work. I usually like it to be high energy – to make me feel like I want to go to a nightclub, make me feel euphoric, give me a high. Good disco works. At the moment I am listening to Asha Puthli, she’s so incredible. I make different playlists for different things and times of day. I have insomnia so usually I need something very relaxing (like Weightless by Marconi Union) to sleep.
On TV & Film… I got really addicted to the Housewives series over the pandemic. It was like watching real life soap opera. Also the last season of Succession. It’s very interesting to see how shows are styled; it really helps build the characters. Films are always a fashion inspiration, such as Glenn Close’s looks in Fatal Attraction! But it can also be a mood, or colours (@colorpalette.cinema breaks down movie scenes by colour) or social commentary. Some films I watched recently and loved are Fear Eats The Soul by Rainer Fassbinder (so beautiful, but also incredibly relevant despite being almost 50 years old), The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Castle, 1970), and Sick Of Myself (Kristoffer Borgli, 2023), which is so twisted and horrible and funny.
On Art… I love collecting homoerotic art. My favourite pieces include a small collection of Larry Clark photos, and a couple of very beautiful small works by Louis Fratino.
On Creative Inspirations… Everything/anything can be inspiring. It could be someone walking down the street or on the train home, it could be a colour I see or a bit of vintage fabric, or a scene from a film. I don’t ever switch off looking for inspiration. India always inspires me; I go there at least twice a year. One trip to Mumbai a few years ago was so intense – I barely slept for four days but I was so inspired. And New York always inspires me because it has an energy you don’t find anywhere else.
On His Retrospective… I completed 20 years of my brand over the pandemic, but we were in lockdown so I couldn’t really do anything to mark it. When the William Morris Gallery reached out last year to see if I might be interested in doing an exhibition [Ashish: Fall In Love And Be More Tender], I thought it was a lovely way to mark two decades of working in the fashion industry. We pulled out 20 years of samples and the gallery catalogued everything, which was quite a feat, roughly 1,000 pieces of clothing. Then the curators (Roisin Inglesby and Joe Scotland) and I went through and pulled out the pieces we felt were important and spoke most strongly about my practice. Diversity has always been such an important part of what I do, and I wanted the mannequins to reflect this. So, we worked with a company in Italy to create different ‘skin tones’ for the mannequins.
On His Work Uniform… My uniform is usually something retrieved from a big pile of clothes on the floor of my bedroom. It’s a combination of how I feel that day and what I think works together in a rush!
On His Signature Scent… I love Labdanum by Le Labo (smells like a haze of talcum powder and a kind of musky sweetness) and Muscs Koublai Khan by Serge Lutens (which smells like sex) I don’t wear scents every day, but when I do, I like them to be distinct and full of character.
On Career Advice… “Use the fucking fairy fabrics!” Said the late, great Louise Wilson, my course leader at Central Saint Martins, when I couldn’t decide if I should use a sparkly fabric for a dress. One of many priceless gems she imparted, and I still carry with me. And my mother always reminds me to just do the work and not worry about the rest, which has always been a great reminder to focus on what’s important.
Pia Brynteson is Editorial Assistant at Service95
