Amit Aggarwal serenades the impossibility, linearity, unpredictability of time and maybe tide, through his show as the past (cotton) meets the present (nylon), through his newly created fabric this season for Hyundai India Couture Week 2024.
By Asmita Aggarwal
When I watched the Amit Aggarwal show at the India Couture Week 2024, I felt a sense of connectionas if it was inspired by the film Matrix only it was reloaded this time! Remember Keanu Reeves and his cartwheels in the air? His battle against time, the film was inspired by Gita, and time travel? Well, Amits show was a bit like that!
What I also liked was the fact that he got his admirers not for the catwalk but in the audience like the delicious looking Abhay Doel, a rarity on the ramp and in any fashion space, Dangal star Sana Fatima Shaikh, as well as Kritika Kamra.
The set for me resembled a strand of human DNA, considering Amits love for science, I also admired the fact that he has a distinct and growing clientele loving his manipulations on fabric, in an embroidery and embellishment obsessed country.
The garments moved with the body, almost in sync despite fervent hugging, it felt it was more of an artistic expression, and truly couture as he pushed the envelope. Amit ingeniously cut moulded fabric, the jackets for men with splatter of candle wax inspired embroidery were interesting.
The older model is coming of age, a must for international shows of Dries Van Noten to Issey Miyake, age is now not definable, it is not a barometer of judging your ramp walk worthiness. The advent of reds and velvets for men further added to the spectacle.
Amits Instagram is flooded with videos showing his journey to the Kabutar bazar, adjoining Chor Bazar, where he is scouting second-hand denim, sourcing fabrics that can be toughened, reused for his couture line. At the risk of exposing a slice of his personal life, Amit Aggarwal, admits going to bazaars has been a passion since his college days— a Sunday treat.
It is entirely true that pegs of inspiration, untold stories lead to creation, among the many treasures that Amit finds, there is a particular jacket that has brought him joy, he is recycling it. This is besides the pre-owned Banarasi saris, he picked up to create updated versions adding his labour-intensive techniques cording to give it a fresh form.
Remember the Patola upcycling he did for his brand Am-it, or how he dressed Priyanka Chopra Jonas in the Banarasi Navrangi saris, upcycled. Technology and science have been a part of his thinking since he began, more than ten years back, even a bit of biology and physics. Through the iCloud line that told us how much waste we store in our minds.
It is imperative for me to try something new, or I will never know where the loopholes are. I am ready for that 15 minute of scrutiny at ICW, at least I tried, he smiles. There is always an emotion his clothes strike within the wearer, it comes with a wealth of material explorations, has a distinct brand language, making one-of-a-kind clothing, cant be replicated.
His experiments this season, is creating a new-age fabric by mixing organic cotton, and nylon, on the hand loom. It offers fluidity, drapes, has a glass-like texture, but when it caresses your skin, it feels like cotton. In bridal, storytelling is the inception of thoughthe hopes to strike a balance by collaborating with faces who have engaging narratives. Never should there be an overkill, each piece must have a mystery, says Amit.
A rose even when the petals fall off, remains one so couture should expose a sheer behind a layer, and as a couturier you must know how much is too much. Bridal for Amit is that one moment when you share bigger dreams with someone else, it is not just about wearing an embroidered lehenga, “it is a celebration of commonality. Thus, the show is moody, it transports you to a different space, explores recesses of your memory, through clothing which captures an experience.
Showstoppers, a potent part of a couture week show, Amit believes some collections need a spokesperson and some dont, I dont believe in face value, he laughs. The ICW 2024 line is based on the concept of time which is represented through —science, religion, cosmology, and philosophy. Time has been looked at from a variety of angles, life is a game of time, he admits. Banarasi emulates the eternity of time, life after death; beading is about living in the now, little glimmers in our journey; how the beauty of a star is represented through the supernova, since its inception.
The craft and new materials explorations represent the linearity of time, when today meets tomorrow, he explains. Time is a bit of a sorcerer, if you go by Einsteins Theory of Relativity, and quantum physics. The last concept is how time also sets an equilibrium, and it ties into the existence we know, he adds.
It was in 1998 during the DD days when B R Chopra had everyone glued to their TV sets with his retelling of the epic Mahabharat, and there was one line that stayed with everyone, Main Samay hun the whole story was told by time.