Dianne J. Gupta
Creator/Fashion Designer/Visionary
@diannegupta
https://www.abrasadesign.com
Dianne is currently working at YesStyle as a content manager for the fashion publication and retailer. She is also the designer, creator, and visionary behind Abrasa.
Dianne and I went to the same high school in Hong Kong, but I didn’t keep in touch or reach out to her till I decided to the Young Artists Series.
I contacted Dianne after seeing her posts on Instagram. Her posts are full of vibrance, high contrast, and an alluring energy. The photos of her exude an aura of “I look good and I don’t give a fuck.” I was immediately hooked to her page and needed to talk to her. I thought to myself “I need to put her in this photo series.” Over the course of our coffee and photo shoot I got to understand her more and got a chance to take a glimpse of how her mind worked.
For our shoot she picked the location of Yen Chow Fabric market, or as the shop owners there called it, “fabric city”. It was like the Kowloon Walled City but instead of buildings stacked on top of each other juxtaposed by narrow alleyways it was towers of fabric. This was where she had bought her first roll of fabric and where we had our photoshoot, talking about our past experiences, our inspirations, and the world around us.
Yellow is her favourite colour. Dianne was easily spotted as I saw her approaching the transit exit we agreed to meet at. She was wearing a bright yellow floral shirt, she says it’s her uniform. Yellow makes her happy, people no longer wear bright colours anymore. Yellow is the colour of her home in the Philippines. It was painted yellow as per her request. She is right, it is a very nice and happy colour and it’s prevalent on her Instagram page. That got me thinking…’maybe I need my own colour too’
At work she is called the plant lady. That’s because her office space is filled to the brim (well not yet, but she would like it to eventually be) with plants , her apartment is filled with plants, and she really likes plants. Plants, she tells me, occupies most of the space in her apartment. She can even cite their scientific names, “oxalis triangularis”. When the topic of plants arose, a shine in her eyes appeared. They were clearly a large part of her life and a source of inspiration.
Dianne’s inspiration comes from her experience of growing up in Hong Kong and in the Philippines. She wants her clothes and her style to make people look far and beyond the usual stereotypes held against Filipinos. Her weapon of choice was to make the best looking clothes that would reflect her identity and experiences. At a glance, you tell how much work and thought has been put into her clothes. She looks good and does so unapologetically. Every piece Dianne creates is crafted to perfection and no margin for error is tolerated.
Her ability to be unapologetically herself, her no bullshit attitude, and her eye for perfection is something I wish I had.
I messed up and forgot to ask her where she saw herself in 5 years so I reached out to her on Instagram.
