As a new cohort of fashion freshers queued outside to enroll at Central Saint Martins last week, the hallowed halls of the iconic London institution welcomed back one of its most celebrated alumni for a very special milestone. Independent fashion designer Ashish Gupta could be found roaming the college’s familiar halls, corridors, studios, and library, cameras flashing as he shot his hilariously subversive spring lookbook. The project marks a quarter-century of the designer carving out a distinct, sequin-spangled space in the global fashion landscape, blending high-octane glamour with razor-sharp political commentary.
“It’s been 25 years since I started,” Gupta reflected amidst the creative chaos of the college. “So I thought: let’s do 25 looks, one for each year, with messages.”
The nostalgic homecoming brought full circle a journey that began at the very same institution a quarter of a century ago. Gupta might well have become a copywriter rather than an independent fashion designer had he not made the pivotal move to London, where he graduated in the CSM MA class of 2000 under the formidable, exacting tutelage of the late Professor Louise Wilson OBE. That historic connection proved instrumental in bringing the project to life; Fabio Piras, the current MA course tutor, warmly welcomed Gupta back to utilize the college studios for the anniversary shoot.
Long before he was draping the world’s most discerning pop stars and fashion icons in multicolored sequins, Gupta’s intellectual roots lay in a very different kind of text-based communication. “I studied advertising in India. First of all, I thought I wanted to write,” Gupta revealed. This surprising background sheds brilliant light on a defining characteristic of his career, finally revealing at long last why he has always been so exceptionally good at slogans. Words, phrasing, and biting commentary have consistently served as the beating heart of his collections, bridging the gap between wearable art and socio-political critique.
This season, however, those iconic messages underwent a deliberate and striking evolution. Instead of appearing emblazoned across his signature T-shirts, the slogans were hand-written on hastily scrawled placards. They served as sharp, pithy salutes from Ashish to students, activists, and protest movements around the world, capturing a restless, urgent spirit of global dissent.
Among the standout messages captured in the lookbook are phrases that cut straight to the heart of contemporary anxieties: “Libraries Not Data Centres,” “Put Smart People in Charge,” “It’s a Dress Not a Yes,” and the deadpan, provocative humor of “One of my best friends is Straight.”
These slogans are far from decorative; they are rooted in a deep sense of unease about the current socio-political climate. Explaining the darker, more urgent undertones of the anniversary collection, Gupta laid bare his motivations. “I feel like globally there’s been such a move towards fascism. And I just think it’s a dark time, and it’s doesn’t feel like a particularly hopeful time,” he said.
This sentiment found both literal and playful expression in pieces like “UK Garage Not UK Farage,” a brilliant linguistic pivot that tackles the rise of the far right in a way no British person can possibly miss. Yet, not all of Gupta’s historical and political references within the anniversary collection are immediately obvious to a casual observer.
“It’s very coded,” Gupta explained, detailing the layers of meaning woven into the 25 looks. “There’s a leopard trouser suit that stands for Jane Fonda, when she was protesting against the Vietnam war, for example. Or the photos where the model’s carrying pots and pans, which street protesters have used.” By embedding these subtle historical nods into contemporary streetwear silhouettes, Gupta bridges the gap between historical activism and the modern struggles occupying the minds of today’s students.
Raising a laugh in the darkness might well serve as a fitting tagline for the multicolored sequin-spangled service that Ashish the brand has been providing in London, and to the world at large, for all these years. In an industry that often takes itself far too seriously, Gupta has consistently offered an antidote to solemnity, proving that glamour and political engagement are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, the darker the global mood gets, the more deeply loved Gupta becomes for his unique ability to alleviate the gloom through sheer chromatic joy.
In person, the designer’s work is even more uplifting and astonishing than it appears glowing through a computer or smartphone screen. What immediately catches the eye as seemingly straightforward crochet or traditional argyle knitwear turns out to be something entirely different upon closer inspection. Everything—every stitch, every pattern, every intricate texture—is meticulously created by hand by the master artisans in the Ashish atelier in New Delhi.
Pointing to the staggering level of human craftsmanship embedded in each of the anniversary garments, Gupta offered one final, characteristically witty nod to the meticulous labor behind his creations. “So,” he said, “that is why I wrote this one: ‘A Handmade Tale.’”
