Awhite three-tiered chandelier greets visitors at designer Amit Aggarwal’s workshop in Delhi’s art hub Lado Sarai. A chandelier at a designer’s space? Typical, one might think. A closer inspection reveals that the chandelier is made with straws, something that is associated with a soft drink bottle. In another room are ceiling lights made of crocheted fabric, the kinds that every middle-class home in India would cover the TV sets with in the 80s and 90s. “We strengthened the crocheted cloth with white cement and adhesive. We always find ways to strengthen otherwise fragile fabrics, using industrial waste,” says Amit Aggarwal, the name behind the prêt label AM.IT and his eponymous couture venture.
The workshop is chaotic as Aggarwal gears up to unveil his new resort wear collection, Seamless, in Mumbai in collaboration with Lakmé. “I have a flight to catch this afternoon, and all this will eventually fall in place,” says Aggarwal, as he talks about the nervous excitement floating all around.
There are a lot of discarded fabrics, borders and pallus of old saris, plastic wrappings and cables cut into straight lines. These are not meant for the trash—they make for the raw materials that Aggarwal uses. “For Seamless,” he says, “I have used frayed patola saris by strengthening them with industrial waste. This way we can still have the sari in play. We have also played around with the flaws of the sari. There was one that had been eaten by moths, and there were holes in it. We didn’t just use the perfect bits. We kept the holes and strengthened the fabric with industrial material, and frayed the edges of the holes, giving it a frayed texture,” adds Aggarwal. The finished product is washable too. The avant garde collection has edgy cuts high on the quirk factor. There are straight ankle-length jackets with long frilled cuffs, very Jane Austen. The annual Blind School Diwali mela is where Aggarwal got his inspiration. “I saw a lady who had made things out of patchwork from old saris. It was all very basic, but the idea hit home,” he says.
After working with some of the leading couturiers in the country—including such as Tarun Tahiliani—Aggarwal started his own venture seven years ago. For the Mumbai-born designer, fashion, design and fabrics were very close to him. “Even at the age of six, I knew I was meant for the fashion world,” he says. Working with upcycled fabrics and industrial waste that technological revolution has brought along is something of a calling card for Aggarwal. “In the past, I have created a collection using a gamcha and polythene bags,” he says.
The NIFT-Delhi graduate has also used things like adhesive sheets for bindi and had it inlaid with traditional techniques like ikat and marbling. He has also dabbled in drinking straws. “There is a lot of talk going about the government’s Make in India campaign with the revival of handicrafts, textiles and traditional fabrics. But, we cannot ignore the role that technology has to play in all this.We need to acknowledge it and make something out of it,” Aggarwal says.