Aartivijay Gupta, On Making the Past Legible

In Aartivijay Gupta’s work, art is not applied — it is carried. Prints are not decorative gestures, and collaboration is not a seasonal exercise. Her practice is shaped by long-term relationships with artisans and a belief that heritage, when handled with care, does not need to be modernised to remain relevant.

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Rather than extracting motifs or aesthetics, Gupta’s approach begins with understanding the worlds from which they come — histories shaped by repetition, memory, and generational continuity. It is this grounding that allows her work to move between local contexts and global platforms without dilution.

ELLE: Research and collaboration with artisans sit at the core of your practice. What have these long-term relationships taught you? 

Aartivijay Gupta (AVG): Artisans are mostly in their fourth or fifth generation in their chosen craft. It’s not mere livelihood it’s more about their childhood memories, their love for the craft, dreams, years of dedication and commitment to the heritage they were born with. So when we collaborate, we have the responsibility to make sure artisans and craft get their due respect. We truly hope we are able to represent the art in its original form generating curiosity from future generations. 

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ELLE: The SS25 collection with Kalighat artists from Midnapore reframed history for a global runway. How do you balance cultural specificity with universal resonance when presenting abroad? 

AVG: We believe all historic art forms have inherent universal language and individual interpretation reflects thought process, upbringing, beliefs, experiences. There are always different meanings for any two individuals, but also easily relatable to each one of them. 

ELLE: What does sustainable development really mean within your universe? 

AVG:As the core of the brand is art, our pieces are timeless and usually retained and worn by clients for years. Our first global debut at London marked our foray in sustainability in terms of fabric. We collaborated with Aditya Birla group and made 30 per cent of our collection out of recycled yarn Liva fabric. We are gradually increasing the ratio of sustainable fabric with every passing collection. 

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ELLE: You’ve said before that prints are not surface decoration but storytelling... 

AVG:Any heritage artwork always have a language and vision of its own. Each and every art work has a whole story that the artist has penned down relating to his or her livelihood, experiences or any folk story which he or she has heard or witnessed. So each piece is an heritage visual story which is timeless and is the soul of the garment. Structure or solid colour can never have so much of history, heritage and craft as soul for any kind of effortless story telling. 

ELLE: If you had to define the future of Indian fashion in one tension which one feels most urgent to you right now, and why? 

AVG:Old global artisanal is the language that feels urgent and effortless to us. Our cultural heritage is not only global it is true luxury, from hand silks to toosh to kalamkari to our hand-woven cotton are we feel is real future of global luxury. Industrial leads to over consumption of fast fashion and lot of wastage, artisanal leads to timeless exclusive luxury. Local can reach and satiate Indian clientele but global can help more employments and reach. Old is backed by history, heritage, storytelling, craft and soul verses new has less curiosity and shorter shelf life. 

ELLE: The ELLE Collective recognises individuals shaping culture and commerce in India today. What does being part of this group represent for you at this moment in your journey as someone transforming heritage into contemporary expression? 

AVG: ELLE India has a history of supporting Indian art and artisanal crafts, being part of the list means a lot to us. ELLE has wider reach to make people understand the value of Indian artisanal craft. We are always grateful for all the support that we get from in our pursuit of following our deep-rooted passion for Indian culture and art.

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