Fashion, besides its practicality, has always been a way to tell stories, and Gaurav Gupta told an incredibly personal one with his latest Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2025 collection. Titled Across the Flame, the Indian designer was inspired by a near-fatal accident where himself and his life partner, poet and performer Navkirat Sodhi, almost lost their lives — the atelier in Delhi caught fire, setting everything ablaze. Love, loss, rebirth, pain, healing, and gratitude are some of the topics that this highly emotional collection tackled beautifully.
The show’s invite was a Tibetan bowl, which already gave away that there was something highly spiritual about Gupta’s upcoming show. But people were warned, especially since last year, the designer had to cancel his show due to the accident. For over a year, he and his partner have been on a journey of recovery (Navkirat, who opened the show, suffered severe burns and had to undergo several surgeries), both physical and psychological. In the couturier’s own words, “This collection is not just a showcase of couture for us, it is a deeply personal testament to the power of resilience, transformation, and the infinite light within all of us. Through the flames of adversity, we found not just survival, but a rebirth that redefines the boundaries of creation and love.”
Fire, of course, cast a long, dark shadow in the clothes. But besides its destructive capacity, Gupta also used it as a poetic way to speak of renewal and of love — he calls Navkirat as his ‘twin flame.’ This concept resulted in the standout creation Twin Flame ensemble, which reflects the flames of transformation that once engulfed their spirits. There other fire-inspired garments, including a richly draped orange dress, a sculptural corset resembling moving flames, or a black-and-orange dress with impressive weaving, highlighting Gupta’s impressive craftsmanship and savoir faire.
Naturally, there was also a lot of black — for mourning, but also because of its depth and transcendence. From rich tailoring with intricate patterns to Gupta’s signature floating-like structures, he presented dresses and suits give new meanings to formalwear. One of the first looks, an asymmetrical dress with a dramatic collar featuring hand-woven brocade from Banaras in gold, had chants that served as mantras of solace and strength for Gaurav and Navkirat during this passage. The model also had these chants painted in her face, resembling Dune’s Jessica Atreides, which gave it a sort of sci-fi yet shamanic, religious aura. 
Most of all, Across the Flame relied on Gaurav’s intense emotions after suffering an accident that made him rethink and reconsider his life and its priorities. In the press release, they describe this process as a “shared cosmic odyssey,”  making the collection “a testament to the strength found in vulnerability, the wisdom of the stars, and the light that emerges from the darkest flames.” Cosmology, hence, also plays a pivotal role in both the material choices (a lot of shimmering fabrics, beads, diamantés, paillettes, etc.) and the headpieces. Especially the final look, a jaw-dropping, one-shoulder dress in black and dark silver that looks like the personification of a goddess representing a starry night. 
Balancing the spiritual healing with the physical trauma, Gaurav also presented several looks with metallic breastplates, a symbol of armour and protection that further proved the couturier’s penchant for innovation. There was a lot of research involved, and the result is futuristic yet elegant, successfully walking the fine line between costume and fashion.
Once again, Gaurav Gupta proves that stories are more important than clothes, and that fashion allows us to turn our dreams into wearable pieces of art. After being through hell and back, the designer comes back reinforced, with a new mindset but the same talent as always. An incredibly poetic comeback that had us on the brink of tears.
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