How Mumbai's Own Deepak Gupta Went From Rejection To Modeling For Louis Vuitton

“Why Not?” is a question we don’t ask ourselves enough. When Deepak Gupta first dreamt of being a model, he was met with an army of naysayers. Thankfully, Gupta paid them no mind. In a now-viral Instagram reel, the model displays a picture of his young self with the caption “You can never be a Louis Vuitton model,” only to follow it with the apt question “Why not?” We then find ourselves backstage with Gupta at Paris Fashion Week as he prepares to walk the runway in his first Louis Vuitton show. Gupta’s transformation, from a seemingly regular boy to a high-fashion international model struck a chord with the public. His video has now amassed over 50 million views and 3 million likes, with everyone from Bollywood celebrities and fellow models to aspiring artists leaving comments in support. 

Looking at Gupta today, it’s hard to believe that he once faced scepticism and judgment over his fashion aspirations. However, his social media content is based on truth; the model told Screen that when he first started modelling at his college fashion shows, kids at his school would mock him for his hair, looks, and skin colour. He didn’t have just one staunch critic, but a gang of them. This bullying culture is prevalent all over India, where students are often put down when their dreams delve from the norm. However, Gupta didn’t let their comments get him down. 

Soon after he discovered his passion for modelling, Gupta was scouted through his college shows and started modelling for homegrown brands. Initially, Gupta didn’t even tell his parents that he had taken on this career path, and it wasn’t until his father saw him on a billboard at the mall that they realised their son was a star in the making. Just six months later, Gupta signed with Anon, an international agency based in Mumbai. Now, two years later, he has walked in Milan and Paris Fashion Week, solidifying himself as an exciting up-and-comer in the world of international fashion. With every passing year, Gupta’s aspirations only seem to grow, as he hopes to continue this upward trajectory by making  Model.com’s Top 50 Models list this year.

Gupta’s “Why Not?” attitude is what brought him here today– though of course, his height and sharp bone structure help. Where so many of us would accept outside judgment as truth, Gupta didn’t accept the narrative pushed onto him by his peers. Instead of asking “why” Gupta has made it, we have to ask “why not?” And rather than prematurely accepting our pre-written fates, we must ask ourselves, what’s stopping us from trying to achieve our dreams too? 

Follow Deepak Gupta here.

If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:

'Sam-Aaj' Uses Dance To Explore The Conflicts That Exist Within Queer Love

Photography, Drawing, & The Art Of Memory: Inside The Visual World Of Sawani Chaudhary

Gayathri Krishnan’s Upcoming R&B Single Is An Experimental Love Letter To Carnatic Music