From all revved up, designer Gaurav Jai Gupta has slipped into what he calls "chill mode". On March 2, he took to Instagram to say he was ready to launch a new collection called The Sky is Mine at the upcoming India Fashion Week (IFW) in Delhi. On March 5, he posted again, this time with a statement from the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) that coordinates the bi-annual event, about its postponement due to growing concerns around the coronavirus spread. It was a missed opportunity for Jai Gupta, not just to open IFW for the first time with a solo show, but also return to it from a three-year hiatus. "The momentum has slowed down," he says about the fashion industry in the country.

The collection that would have been showcased on March 11 explores 28 variations of the colour blue. It was three years ago, during a trip to Paris that he visited the Centre Pompidou, and came across Yves Klein's work, his patented blue gouaches piercing a white canvas. "The first thought to flash across my mind was Neel [washing powder]. Like so many other Indian children, my white school uniform was never crisp enough if my mother hadn't dipped it in Neel," he says nostalgically. The familiar shade of azure took him on a pursuit since he didn't wish to indulge India's definition of blue, which is typically Indigo. "After some back and forth, I was finally able to crack the blue I wanted in Mubarakpur, Uttar Pradesh. The village is known for its significant weaver and dyer community."