Designer Masaba Gupta, who has recently forayed into cosmetics, says that when people own a product, they own a piece of her personality. By Team Viva
Designer Masaba Gupta doesn’t want to be mediocre. Or fall into her own trap. Which is why she is reinventing her portfolio by venturing into collaborations that require her design sensibilities. Drawing on her eclectic, vibrant and quirky prints, she has now done up a palette with cosmetic brand Nykaa. Earlier, she had launched her capsule collection in collaboration with the makers of Game of Thrones, a line of sarees with the Banaras brand, Ekaya, and the Africa-inspired jewellery with Tribe by Amrapali.
On stretching herself in all the directions, Masaba says, “We are a young brand, so the time to experiment is now. I don’t think brands can do this after 40 years. I have the energy and a lot of interest. Also, I do prints which are easy to experiment with as I can put it on anything.” The designer feels that the new-age consumer is always looking for new conversations, so it is important to keep offering them something.
Cosmetics, of course, have been her easy playground. “I understand this sphere quite a bit. It’s strange that there are so many brands in India but nobody is really going for a dedicated line on makeup. So it was the right time for me to jump into it.”
The collection, Masaba by Nykaa, features 25 products — 12 lipsticks which range from red to nudes with 12 matching nail paints and one nail enamel remover. The lipsticks have distinctively appealing names like Kale-ing me softly, Cool guy, Pataka, Can’t deal, etc. The nail paints are packed in her signature style, Cow and Bindi. Masaba has attempted to flatter all Indian skin tones so that there is something for “girls with great skin to the ones who get tanned easily.” The shades are everyday wear. Masaba says, “The way I have curated the shades is very different. Everybody expected me to come up with bright pop colours but I wanted to be a part of the consumer’s routine and embellish it with a touch of my signature.”
She has been using social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to spread the word about her collection and collaboration. Masaba says, “If the product is not Instagrammable, it’s not fun. So, the names are kept keeping in mind the new age social media customers.” This helped her attract eyeballs and make the people aware about the features of each product. “I wanted girls to talk about my line but I did not expect them to take to a new product so quickly and own it,” she adds. Giving an example of one of her shades, nimbu paani, which is a warm toned nude, she is overwhelmed that it has become an instant favourite.
Talking about her learning experience during the course of two years, when she was preparing the products, Masaba says, “I learnt a lot of technical things, like lipsticks have to be kept in a container for six months. This helped me increase my patience game. The consumer psyche in this industry varies from that of fashion, so it’s an interesting experience altogether.” All of this helped her in learning the intricacies of the beauty business and getting a deeper insight into this industry.
So how does she choose her brands? Rolling her curls, Masaba says, “It’s important to have a synergy of thoughts, ideas and a belief system, which is why we are here. Any brand has to have the expertise and knowledge of the product and distribution. We just lend our creative eye to it by bringing the prints, colours and names.”
The designer has been marred by controversy after being exposed by Diet Sabya (anonymous Instagram account dedicated to exposing imitations, appropriations, or even blatant copies in fashion) that her packaging, which Masaba feels is a distinctive feature, is a copy of Sephora (Health and beauty brand). But she defends herself saying, “There are a lot of things said about me but people need to understand that when you launch a product it’s not only in physical form, it becomes a part of me as I give a life to it. I have understood the fact that people will always have things to say when there’s a big launch and big product range. I just have to take the opinions heads on and forget.”
We ask if this association is also short-term like her short collaboration with cosmetic major Lakme in 2017. Masaba says, “That collection was only eight to 12 chubby sticks, not really printed. I had not put my heart and soul into it. It was merely a passing collaboration but this is a marriage. I worked on this for two years as if it was my own baby. It is a much more accessible product and I think we have done a better job with it.”
This collaborative measure seems to be an attempt to look inward towards India and our products, as Masaba feels that we are done obsessing with the brands in the West. “It is high time we celebrate where we come from and validate our existence,” she adds, summing up.
