Designer A-Z

Ashish

Autumn/Winter 2012

By Sarah Bonser

'She bathed in the Ganges at Varanasi, practised sun salutations at a palace in Jaipur and watched fireworks at a midnight beach rave in Goa'.

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Everything from the show notes to the front row - princess of pop Molly King, vintage vixen Kate Nash and drag queen extraordinaire Jodie Harsh - was a mash-up of eclectic contradictions.

This season Ashish Gupta was working on a vision of Bollywood on acid and his autumn/winter muse was on a spiritual journey. But even that description isn't quite equal to the Hare Krishna hoodie, rainbow flatform docker boots and hallucinogenic paisleys that opened the show. Or the tie-dye hand-knits worn over spangly tees and oversize Buddha dresses.

Never straying from his ‘more is more’ philosophy - seasons of ubiquitous colour and sparkle have taught us that the stuff goes everywhere - the king of bling sent out head-to-toe sequinned looks bearing ying-yang motifs, Acid House smiley’s and slogans reading 'Cloud 9' 'Be Happy' and 'Relax.'

Inhale, now exhale and find your mantra. All that was missing was incense - and perhaps a few glo-sticks.