New Delhi born Ashish Gupta serves up some pretty decent grub in his latest collaboration for Topshop: a series of mouth-watering T-shirts and jumpers inspired by American diners and 50s ice cream parlours.
Famous for his unabashed use of sequins, colour and pop references, Ashish injects fun and flamboyance into every collection. “I was thinking of what I would like to wear to the gym”, the designer says of the capsule range, with a more than a hint of irony, given that the T-shirts and jumpers feature a cholesterol-upping banana split, a hundred-sit-ups iced ring doughnut, a hot dog and fries, and a smiley face made from two fried eggs and a saveloy. Season after season, Ashish sends his signature blend of old Hollywood glamour and luxury sportswear down the catwalk, always with a sense of humour, putting a smile on the face of every show attendee. His clothes makes statements: the ‘Same Old Chic’ T-shirt, the sequin football shorts, the sequin pyjamas, and now the doughnut jumper! Hungry for more, we caught a moment with Ashish, who’s currently in India working on his autumn/winter 2011 collection, to talk inspirations and New Year’s resolutions.
What were your inspirations for the collection? Fast food: American diners, Wimpy menus, food photography in 70s cookbooks, 50s ice cream parlours… Yummy!
How does the Ashish aesthetic fit in with Topshop? I think the last two Ashish/Topshop collaborations represent a fun, pop aesthetic. Working with Topshop gives me the opportunity to do things that I can’t usually do for my own collection. I don’t have to adapt at all because they have such amazing resources and are such fun to work with!
M.I.A, Marina and the Diamonds, Paloma Faith, Shingai Shinowa are all big Ashish fans, what kind of woman do you have in mind when you design? I usually think of the women who work with me or inspire me when I design. It usually ends up being for cool, bonkers, sexy, fun girls who are up for (almost) anything!
Can you give us any clues for your autumn/winter 2011 collection? It’s still a work in progress but many, many sequins are involved.
What are your New Year’s resolutions? Instead of giving things up I’m going to take things up – meditation, yoga and swimming are top of my list.
Ashish for Topshop is in stores now.
