For Spring/Summer 2026, Gaurav Gupta presented The Divine Androgyne, a collection that refuses to sit comfortably in any single category. It's couture, yes—but it's also philosophy made tangible, a meditation on duality and interconnectedness drawn from Advait philosophy, which sees all existence as one continuous whole.

The starting point wasn't conceptual. It was personal. During coverage of his Spring/Summer 2025 show, Across the Flame, several media outlets mistakenly referred to Gupta’s life partner, Navkirat Sodhi, as his wife. That small editorial error sparked a larger question: why do we insist on fixing identities, on naming and categorising relationships? Why can't they simply exist, fluid and undefined?

Gupta's answer isn't delivered through words—it's built into every seam, every stitch, every sculptural form. The Indian designer developed a proprietary embroidery technique that maps the human nervous system and energy points across the body in intricate, thread-engineered networks. One striking look features twin silhouettes connected by continuous cords, their forms intertwined. A black gown traces invisible circuitry—anatomy as architecture.

Each piece requires hundreds of hours of handwork, transforming thread into something that feels alive, as if the garments themselves are still in the process of becoming.

From there, the collection shifts into a more fantastical territory. Sculpted bridal gowns and sari silhouettes incorporate mogra—Indian jasmine—not as embellishment but as structural material, embedding the idea of rebirth directly into the garments. Nearly fifty artisans collaborated on pieces requiring over 900 hours of embroidery each. The result is clothing that seems to continue growing, evolving even as it is worn.

Gupta then moves backwards in time, imagining the earliest states of matter. Hybrid surfaces and resin elements evoke primordial experiments—life in its most fragile, uncertain form. One cosmic gown is composed of over 2,000 individually placed resin components, each a gesture toward creation as an ongoing process, never quite finished.

Time becomes a tangible part of the garments. Clock hands, mechanical plates, and silver details reappear as crystallized ornamentation on corseted and sculpted forms, suggesting that time is cyclical rather than linear—past, present, and future folded into one continuous flow. Preciosa crystals catch the light in controlled bursts, while sculpted lattices and corded ruffles suggest a delicate, shifting balance, where structure, gravity, and movement constantly interact.

The collection culminates in a monumental corset, inspired by temple sculpture and moulded in custom fibre over 700 hours. “Every silhouette in this collection is built as a living structure," Gupta explains. "We are not decorating the body. We are mapping consciousness, memory, and movement onto it. These garments are meant to feel alive, still in the process of becoming."

Gupta’s collection dissolves boundaries: sculptural lattices meet flowing drapes, rigid forms meet supple curves, creating clothing that feels both controlled and alive