#AIFWSS16 Archives - Fashion Design Council of India

Amit invokes spirit of Margiela

Fabric manipulation in its finest form, themes from the one directional arrow of “time” to now “DNA”, Amit Aggarwal tells us your old Banerasi and Ikkat can be your new cocktail gown, hand pleated and upcycled. By Asmitaa Aggaarwal There is always a lurking sense of inspiration, the industrial set, music that kind of makes you feel you are transported to a world into the future, slow but steady interpretation of textiles—and of course the Belgian 5, deconstructivist approach to design. Amit Aggarwal had his models’ faces covered just like the Martin Margiela, as he wanted everyone to focus on clothing, beautiful models often taking attention away from the artistry he felt—was imperative to observe. At ICW 2025, one noticed Amit pursuing unconventionality– fabric carved into waves, sheer used only as an accent, play of silver and charcoals, sensual touches of gooey chocolate as if it had melted on a gown-made its way all over as greys played peek-a-boo. By the way, a woman’s back is the most sensuous part of her body now, according to him, as silver mesh was worn inside velvety jackets, complemented with basket weave shoes. The beauty of it all was the gown moved mimicking the movement of the body, its curves, its nooks, and crannies. Amit kept colours at bay, only slight accents of reds and greens, his obsession with fabric manipulation, pleating and architectural shapes was evident. The line “Arcanum” denoting mysteries of the physical and spiritual worlds, also known as “elixir” was Japanese inspired probably what a Rei Kawakubo (Comme Des Garcons) would do, honouring our body’s imperfections, accepting it with the bulges, contortions, and misplaced cowls. The ode to ikkats and Banaras, in subtle purples to tangerine reds, told us our old sari can be your new cocktail dress, as men with minaudiere kept it androgynous, a contrast to the magnanimity of the line inspired by our DNA. You would wear this to a red carpet to make a statement. “We go beyond the last show where ‘Time’ was philosophised as a concept, some of the best stories of our life are written in this singular dimensional arrow. Time makes our stories denote that DNA is internal, we explore what it does to our life-takes us places we never thought we would explore,” says Amit. This year through the 25-minute show he narrated five different stories—Form, shape, grow to evolve to tie in every single tale that moved his soul. “Collections are never made in isolation. It started in my mind, a gradual process, actual pieces took four months, with styling and jewellery six months,” he explains. For Amit, style does not get boring if you keep evolving, pushing the same language forward, as a brand. It started as an inward journey, but soon he narrowed down on his favourites—Ikkat, hand woven upcycled, “creating a new narrative –a kind of benchmark for me,” he adds. The artistry could be seen in how he created water droplets through hand draping, as polymer, his constant companion along with Banarasi, were a runway spectacle. “I wanted the show to have a theatrical feeling, but you will see wearable versions of this in the store. For me sustainability denotes artisans trying to help them elevate craft frankly I’m bored of this question,” he says. For him his reused textiles embellished with hand twisted crystals was a way to show you need to be consistent, as he concludes, “Couture is feeling, an emotion, not just about jewellery and watches. Sustainability is the only way we should be living life.”