Aarti Vijay Gupta AW25

The Palais de Tokyo might be Paris’s artistic heartbeat, but London Fashion Week just stole a piece of my soul with Aarti Vijay Gupta’s "Kalighat Stories". Gupta, a maestro of cultural storytelling, transformed the runway into a living canvas, weaving Kolkata’s 19th-century folk art into a AW25 collection that’s as much a historical artistic storytelling as it is fashion.

The Kalighat paintings; bold, fluid, and unapologetically narrative. These works, born near Kolkata’s Kalighat temple, once chronicled mythology and social change. Gupta reimagined them with a modernist twist, collaborating with Midnapore artisans to handcraft prints that feel both ancient and urgent. The pièce de résistance? A mother-and-child motif set against the Sundarbans, a quiet ode to maternal love rendered in sweeping brushstrokes.

Thirty-five gender-fluid looks later, Gupta proved folklore is anything but passé. Asymmetrical drapes meeting structured tailoring, with saris reincarnated as trench coats. Kalighat’s tigers and deities reborn as digital-ready patterns, their vibrancy untouched. Five months of hand-block printing and embroidery, each stitch a tribute to the artisans’ devotion.

Gupta’s mission? To “rephrase the unbalanced narrative” of Indian art on global stages. Mission accomplished. In a season obsessed with futurism, Gupta reminded us that the past is the ultimate innovator. Her collection isn’t just clothing, it’s a bridge between Kolkata’s alleys and London’s runways. And darling, I’m here for every thread of it. For those who missed it, these pieces will be heirlooms.