AKAARO

At the onset of Gaurav Jai Gupta s career , a commission for the Design Lab , Central Saint Martin's school of Design London as a trend forecaster for the year 2006-2007 was soon followed by successful collaborations with Jimmy Choo, Duro Owlu London and Heimstone Paris. He became the first Indian designer to be commissioned by The Woolmark Company to launch the Cool wool Menswear collection for Raymonds in India in 2014.
A trained fashion and textile designer from Chelsea College of Art and Design London and National Institute of Fashion Technology New Delhi along with being on an exchange programme at ANAT Paris ; his passion for clothing gave birth to AKAARO in 2010, with a noteworthy debut at Wills Lifestyle Debut where he was dubbed as find of the week. In the following year he won the debut innovation award at the Grazia Young Fashion Award along with Designer of the year award for the most commercial collection at the International Apparel Federation Awards in Mexico where he represented India.
A finalist in the highly coveted International Woolmark Prize for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 consecutively ,gaurav represented India in the Women swear category. He has also been a finalist for the prestigious Vogue Fashion Fund in the year 2013 and British Council and Elle s creative entrepreneur Award for the year 2010.
Gaurav was invited to co-curate and showcase his work at the BUNKA salon in Tokyo alongside Dato Jimmy Choo in the year 2009 by the University of the Arts London . His work has been showcased extensively in India and internationally including the RMIT University Australia and Alchemy Festival London. His work also sits in the research archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He currently lives and works in Delhi and continues to do his research and experimentation to develop a unique aesthetic.