Amit Aggarwal on his design journey, inspiration and latest couture collection

From the sources of inspiration to the techniques involved, the designer reveals how his latest couture collection ‘Pedesis’ came to be

Indian couture has long been dominated by veteran designers, championing Indian artisans and bridal wear, many of whom have recently celebrated three decades in the fashion industry. In comparison, Amit Aggarwal’s 10-year-old-label is young, and that’s what makes his designs all the more interesting.

Known for using non-traditional materials like recycled polymer sheets, discarded PVC and hand-woven polymer, Aggarwal’s reinvention of classic Indian silhouettes has found fans in Alia Bhatt, Sara Ali Khan and Mira Rajput Kapoor among others. But the uniqueness also draws a large underground crowd—one who appreciates every curve and exaggerated silhouette the designer brings to life.

Aggarwal, the designer, is quiet, preferring to keep the close company of friends. He’s humble about his profession. But here’s where the difference ends. His experimental designs, although none so avant-garde as to intimidate, champion sustainability, much like him. “ No matter how the world perceives fashion, I do believe fashion, somewhere, if created thoughtfully and consciously, does add longevity to the life cycle of products like these,” he toldThe Established about using post-consumer plastics earlier this year. Even back in 2015, when climate change wasn’t a frequently used buzzword, Aggarwal showcased a pret collection repurposing polythene bags. Since then, he has used multiple recyclable materials from factories in Gurugram and Faridabad to create couture pieces that can only be called works of art.

We spoke to Aggarwal ahead of his milestone collection 'Pedesis'—one that he says is both experimental and challenging, yet one that allows him to push the envelope, at the FDCI India Couture Week 2022, to see how the years have evolved him as a designer.

When was the first time you realised that designing is your career path?

I don't think I had a particular moment in my life where I realised that. I feel I was always born to do that and it’s quite strange because I think we’ve lived through a kind of a resurgence through the pandemic, which is when I managed to spend a lot of time with myself to realise that this is probably not my first life in which I’m designing, nor is it going to be my last. What I’m doing is just a part of what my soul was made to do. I think I was made to do exactly what I am doing right now.

You have a very distinct signature style—how did you find your own style?

Surprisingly, I don’t have a sense of style or I don’t understand style. It’s a very overused term, in my opinion. If I had to define what style means to me, I think it’s that innate connection with your own self that kind of defines what you want to wear, adapt to or evolve into. When it comes to my brand, constant experimentation has finally become a sense of style where there is no particular definition of what the term means. Instead, there’s constant evolution where materials interplay and become a new form every single time and have their own fluent language of style.

Tell us about your latest collection. How have the past 10 years culminated or lent themselves to this collection?

The latest couture collection named ‘Pedesis’ is literally taking you through a time capsule. The best thing about life journeys is how there is a superfluous flow between the past, the present and the future. Pedesis celebrates the journey, the creative connections between everything that humankind has gone through right from the first tribe to the cyborg that’s on its way. It speaks of new-age craftsmanship, and colour and celebrates the connections between people who’ve actually been around for us despite the hardships we all have had to go through.

I think over the years, my maturity level has changed a lot. Not just in terms of designing but also in understanding and being more empathetic towards the people I work with. So I think in the last 10 years, this has been my biggest learning which has added to this collection.

What’s so special about designing couture?

Couture is like therapy. For me, designing couture feels exactly like what a potter would feel while carving a pot, or what a mother would feel when she’s actually nurturing her womb with the baby that’s growing inside of her. For me, couture is akin to endless layers; it is never the start or the end of things. It gives me pleasure every single time I work on something, since it is a figment of imagination that has come through with layers of beauty, workmanship, craftsmanship, sweat, tears, blood and anger.

If you were to define your own evolution as a designer, how would you do that?

I think as a creative individual, I am far more sensitive towards myself today in comparison to what I was. I think that a deeper connection with myself has only made me believe much more strongly in what I want to create and what the brand needs to be known for or recognised for. So I think it has taken a lifetime of a journey to be here and that’s the path I would continue on.

What career advice would you give your younger self?

Always follow your heart.

What have your influencers been these years that you’ve been designing?

I think conversations. Interesting conversations between people spark the biggest kind of inspiration within me.

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