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Meet the designer redefining couture in India

Fashion's Gen Nexter Amit Aggarwal says it all boils down to being unafraid to experiment

Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla, Tarun Tahiliani and Rohit Bal are considered the founding fathers of Indian fashion and, in particular, of Indian couture. About five years ago, Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra joined them and, commercially, it is these two who now lead the pack. Over the past few years, however, there has been little new and exciting happening in Indian couture - that is, until Amit Aggarwal made his debut at India Couture Week last month.
In the business for the last 16 years, he has dressed brides from Raipur to London, while actresses Kalki Koechlin and Deepika Padukone have worn his designs on several occasions. Amit opened his own flagship store in Delhi's The Kila complex in the Qutub Minar, three years ago. He even has his own fan following the Middle East, with stores in Dubai and Kuwait stocking him.
Haute couture is the pinnacle of fashion. As mentioned a few weeks back in Dress Code, in France (considered haute couture's original home), it is such a revered term that it is protected by law. In India, the law does not define couture per se, but since 'handmade' is such a strong facet of India's fashion heritage, when a designer puts out clothes that are machine-made and calls them couture - which many do - it is shameful.
For many in India, Couture Week is just an excuse to showcase bridal clothes - the main driver of its fashion industry. What Amit has done is showcase Indian couture that is steeped in tradition, predominantly handcrafted, appealing to the new-age bride, and that addresses global fashion's most challenging issue at the moment: sustainability. The formula he employs is what Indian couture should stand for today.
He says, "For me, fashion needs to reflect the times we live in. The fact is we depend on the boons of industrialisation and yet we [can] never turn our back on our heritage and where we have come from. We need to mix the present with the past and also look to the future. That is what my label does."
'Crystalis', the collection Amit showed at India Couture Week, is inspired by two natural wonders - the formation of crystals and the metallic chrysalis around a butterfly cocoon; it looks at nature and glamour at once. The designer has always been known for his sculptural creations - ones that look like they may be pieces of art, and might be too uncomfortable to wear. that is, until you step into them and realise the opposite is true. There is a term in international fashion called 'prêt-à-couture', which involves the fusing of ready-to-wear (prêt-à-porter) ease with the beauty of couture - and that is what Amit does. But what makes his work really exciting is the way he fuses new-age technology with traditional craft. To understand his unique play on fashion, however, you need to know a little bit about his life.
A Mumbai boy, who has now made Delhi his home, he is a graduate of NIFT Delhi. His father is an engineer - which explains his love for engineering fabric. Amit started out working for designer Tarun Tahiliani, known for infusing a Western take into Indian craft. From assisting one of India's 'big daddies' of couture, he then went on to work at Creative Impex, one of India's more successful textile export houses - with clients from Marni to Alberta Ferretti - before eventually launching a designer retail line called Morphe that was made for the Indian market. "The idea was to have readymade clothes that were avant garde... that were made for the Indian market - and yet were international," recalls Amit.
This was when he started experimenting, introducing a rubber yarn into one of India's most-loved textiles, chandheri. "I think the fact that I have not studied textiles but fashion means I am not scared to experiment with fabric. In a way, it means I am not bound by any preconceived notions and [am] happy to experiment." After three years at Morphe, Amit started his own label. He has both a couture and a ready-to-wear line; he will also debut his menswear line at the Lakme Fashion Week on August 24.
His couture show last month was really about his journey. Crystalis went strong on cocoon shapes (naturally); there was also a heavy use of crystals. He fused the drapes of the sari and lehenga together and, while he used traditional Indian embroidery techniques like ari and zardosi, modern industrial materials like glass sheets were part of the surface embellishments. Like every good fashion designer, Amit knows the importance of collocation - so, for this collection, he worked with textile designer Tanira Sethi for engineered cashmere lace, and Outhouse for jewellery with a skeletal feel that used no stones or gems; the entire show was styled by celebrity stylist Mohit Rai.
It was couture as it was all woven by hand, using the byproducts of materials left over by the industrial process, thus addressing the issue of conscious consumerism. "The aim is to show what craftsmanship can be in the future," says Amit. "For me, couture is a combination of how well a piece is made and how it makes a woman feel."
Amit himself is now at a crossroads where he could redefine the future of Indian couture. He just needs to be able to sustain and grow the curiosity around his label - definitely a designer to keep an eye out for.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com