LONDON — As a fresh crop of wide-eyed fashion students queued to enroll at Central Saint Martins (CSM) last week, the hallowed halls of the iconic art school bore witness to an unexpected intrusion of high-octane glamour mixed with deadpan political protest. Roaming the corridors, studios, and the familiar quiet of the library was Ashish Gupta—affectionately known simply as Ashish—shooting his characteristically subversive and visually arresting spring lookbook.
Marking a quarter-century since he first established his eponymous label, the designer chose to return to the crucible of his modern creative identity. “It’s been 25 years since I started,” Gupta reflected, surrounded by the ghosts of his own academic past and the bustling energy of the next generation of designers. “So I thought: let’s do 25 looks, one for each year, with messages.”
The resulting collection is vintage Ashish: a dazzling collision of painstaking craftsmanship, dazzling multi-colored sequins, and unapologetic socio-political commentary. Yet, beneath the glittering exterior lies a deeply thoughtful, fiercely articulate reflection on the state of the modern world, the history of protest, and the enduring power of clothing as a medium for dissent.
Main Facts: A Quarter-Century of Sequins and Slogans
To understand Ashish Gupta is to understand a designer who has consistently refused to choose between high-art fashion and populist accessibility, between dazzling escapism and gritty reality. For his 25th-anniversary collection, Gupta orchestrated a deeply personal homecoming.
Granted access by current MA course director Fabio Piras—a courtesy extended in honor of Gupta’s lineage as a proud graduate of CSM’s legendary MA class of 2000 under the formidable, exacting tutelage of the late Professor Louise Wilson OBE—Gupta transformed the school’s academic spaces into a runway of resistance.
The core elements of the 25-look presentation include:
- The Milestones: Exactly 25 distinct looks commemorating 25 years of independent label operation.
- The Slogans: A departure from traditional printed T-shirts, this season featured hand-written placards brandished by models, offering sharp, pithy salutes to student activism and global protest movements.
- The Craftsmanship: True to the Ashish brand, what appears from a distance to be simple crochet, tweed, or argyle knitwear is actually meticulously hand-embroidered sequin work, brought to life by master artisans in his New Delhi atelier.
- The Backdrop: Shot entirely on location at Central Saint Martins, bridging the gap between historical fashion education and contemporary street-level critique.
Chronology: From Indian Advertising to London’s Avant-Garde
The journey of Ashish Gupta is a narrative of unexpected turns, cultural synthesis, and relentless creative resilience. Long before he became one of London Fashion Week’s most anticipated fixtures, Gupta’s trajectory pointed toward a very different career.
The Advertising Roots in India
Before the sewing machines, the bolts of fabric, and the mountains of sequins, there was copywriting. “I studied advertising in India. First of all, I thought I wanted to write,” Gupta revealed during the CSM shoot. This foundational training in communication, semiotics, and punchy messaging ultimately laid the groundwork for why he has always excelled at turning garments into narrative billboards. Words, slogans, and typographic irony have remained the beating heart of his collections.
The London Awakening and Louise Wilson
Relocating to the UK capital proved to be the catalyst that redirected his creative ambitions from the page to the pattern-cutter’s table. Entering the crucible of the Central Saint Martins MA program at the turn of the millennium, Gupta fell under the spell of Professor Louise Wilson. Wilson, renowned for her uncompromising standards and for forging some of the industry’s most radical talents (including Alexander McQueen, Phoebe Philo, and Gareth Pugh), shaped Gupta’s work ethic and conceptual depth. Graduating in 2000, he launched his label, quickly carving out a niche that married Western party culture with traditional Indian hand-embroidery.
The 25-Year Evolution
Over the next two and a half decades, Ashish evolved from an underground darling into a global symbol of joyful rebellion. While other independent London labels faltered under economic pressures, Brexit, and shifting retail landscapes, Gupta sustained his business through uncompromising vision and fierce loyalty to his production partners in New Delhi. The 25th-anniversary lookbook at CSM represents the full-circle realization of this journey—returning to the academic womb where it all began, armed with two decades’ worth of accumulated cultural wisdom.
Supporting Data: Decoding the Placards and References
While the casual observer might be drawn immediately to the kaleidoscope of sequins, Gupta’s 25th-anniversary collection is rich with socio-political subtext. Known for his coded visual language, the designer utilized hand-written placards this season to engage directly with contemporary anxieties.
The Placard Manifestos
The slogans carried by models through the halls of CSM functioned as a cross-section of modern political grievances, ranging from institutional critiques to wry cultural observations:
- “Libraries Not Data Centres” – A critique of the corporate tech-driven erosion of public physical spaces and community infrastructure.
- “Put Smart People in Charge” – A succinct, universally resonant frustration with modern political leadership.
- “It’s a Dress Not a Yes” – A powerful nod to bodily autonomy and anti-rape culture campaigns.
- “One of my best friends is Straight” – A witty, subversive inversion of tired heteronormative tokenism.
Coded Historical and Political References
Gupta admits that not every reference in the collection is designed for instant consumption. “It’s very coded,” he explains.
- The Jane Fonda Leopard Suit: A striking leopard-print trouser suit directly references the iconic activist era of Jane Fonda during her vehement opposition to the Vietnam War.
- The Pots and Pans: Several models were photographed carrying domestic cookware—pots and pans—a direct historical homage to the tactics utilized by street protesters globally, from Latin American cacerolazos to European anti-austerity demonstrations.
- “UK Garage Not UK Farage”: Perhaps the most explicit and localized piece of political commentary in the collection, this slogan directly addresses the troubling mainstreaming of far-right politics in the United Kingdom, contrasting it sharply with the inclusive, multicultural roots of home-grown British dance music culture.
Official Responses: Gupta on the Global Darkness and Handcrafted Hope
Speaking candidly about the socio-political climate that inspired the collection, Gupta did not mince words regarding the challenges facing contemporary society.
“I feel like globally there’s been such a move towards fascism. And I just think it’s a dark time, and it doesn’t feel like a particularly hopeful time,” Gupta said, contextualizing the urgency behind his political messaging.
Yet, the darkness has historically been where Ashish shines brightest. For years, the brand has functioned as a therapeutic antidote to political gloom, offering multi-colored sequin-spangled escapism that invites wearers to dance through the apocalypse. The darker the geopolitical forecast, the more fiercely audiences embrace Gupta’s joyful aesthetic.
Crucially, Gupta took pains to highlight the labor behind the luxury. In an era dominated by fast fashion, algorithmic trend forecasting, and mass automation, everything in the Ashish collection—even items that deceptively mimic rustic crochet or traditional argyle knitwear—is constructed by hand.
“That is why I wrote this one: ‘A Handmade Tale,’” Gupta noted, pointing to the immense human capital housed within his New Delhi atelier. The garment is elevated not just through design, but through the tangible, unhurried dedication of skilled artisans.
Implications: The Legacy of Ashish and the Future of Independent Design
As the fashion industry grapples with economic instability, environmental crises, and a hyper-commercialized runway circuit, Ashish Gupta’s 25th-anniversary retrospective at Central Saint Martins offers vital lessons for the future of creative expression.
1. The Resilience of Independent Craft
By keeping his production rooted in New Delhi and maintaining tight control over his atelier’s output, Gupta demonstrates that independent brands can survive—and thrive—without sacrificing ethical integrity or artisanal quality. The “Handmade Tale” placard is a manifesto against the de-skilling of the fashion industry in the age of AI and fast-fashion duplication.
2. Fashion as a Vehicle for Dissent
In an era where many luxury houses sanitize their runways to avoid alienating global consumer bases, Ashish proves that political conviction and commercial viability are not mutually exclusive. By aligning his brand with student protest movements, feminist history, and anti-fascist rhetoric, Gupta keeps alive the radical traditions of London fashion established by designers like Vivienne Westwood.
3. Education, Lineage, and Institutional Memory
Gupta’s return to Central Saint Martins underscores the vital symbiotic relationship between fashion institutions and working designers. By utilizing the college as a live canvas for his lookbook, he bridges the gap between academic theory and industry reality, reminding incoming freshers that fashion is, at its core, a medium of ideas, politics, and human storytelling.
As Ashish Gupta looks toward the next chapter of his storied career, his message remains clear: when the world feels increasingly bleak, put on your sequins, pick up a placard, and refuse to let the darkness win.
