Akaaro is the first alphabet in Sanskrit and aptly resonates for a brand or design philosophy that is rooted and yet contemporary and directional. Akaaro was launched at the prestigious ORIGIN: The London Craft fair in 2007 and has been a regular since then. The designer behind the label is Gaurav Gupta who creates and weaves hand woven garments and accessories through Akaaro. He has his studio based in Delhi and showcases internationally and is known for his innovative textile with engineered and cutting edge designs. Gaurav is trained at Chelsea College of Art and Design London in Woven Textiles and National Institute of Fashion Technology Delhi in Fashion and Graphics. And it was here that the seeds of Akaaro first sprouted in him. When still in college he was regular at the London Craft Fair and had always dreamt of launching his label from that very platform. And thus his dream came true when in 2007 his application was selected.
Late last year Gaurav Gupta was selected for the prestigious “Shared Talent India” Project for promoting Indian sustainable textiles an initiative by Centre of Sustainable Fashion, London which was exhibited at London Fashion Week. With coverage in some very prestigious selected publications (SELVEDGE, U.K) Gaurav s studio has been identified as one of the most promising young studio out of India. He was invited to co-curate and exhibit in a specially curated show called London Calling in Tokyo on the commemoration of 150 years of British and Japanese Friendship in October 2008, the same was inaugurated by Professor Jimmy Choo in Tokyo. Following this he was asked by Professor Jimmy Choo to design a fabric for a pair of sling back for RSA in India. He has recently been invited to exhibit at ALL TIED UP a special curation which showcases works of 14 most contemporary textile designers internationally. The work is on display at the moment at the Ruthin Crafts Centre in Wales till March which will be followed by another showcase in Bath where he has been invited to exhibit at Bath Festival in May.
Gaurav who would prefer calling his collections as design projects is man who is highly aware of his environment adopts inspiration from whatever he sees, hears, and feels thus no wonder that his creations have reached a level where the product is able to evoke feelings. Unraveling the different layers and dimensions of his work Gaurav codes his design perceptions as very visual thus he has interpreted his trip to Ladakh in garments, one of his inspirations was the movie Babel (which keeps shifting from city to city and sets the co-relation between something happening at one end of the world to the other end) and yet another time he translated everything fragile around him into clothes. He works on fabrics like silk, wool and cotton where the textile is also designed and created at his studio.
His association with the prestigious Central Saint Martins London as a trend forecaster from Delhi in 2006 for a British publication called Preview has a prolific expression on his design behavior. As he cultivates a fashion pattern that is progressive and holds the opinion that designers are one of the tangents on which fashion forecasts are based.
Akaaro products retails from selected galleries, stores and museums across England, Tokyo and New Delhi along with some British websites. And Gaurav Gupta is about to make his debut in India very soon at WIFW.
