36.5 million tonnes of waste is generated by our country annually that’s why recycling seems like a tenacious need, Amit Aggarwal does it the superhero way
By Asmita Aggarwal
The bindu or the centre, nucleus, pivot has been a metaphor of life; not just for the famed artist S. H. Raza, but also for designer Amit Aggarwal, who’s sculpted, almost architectural shapes were on a mission.
“Don’t relocate waste, but reallocate waste” in a line where tradition kind of mingled with modernity as mesh found a soulmate with batik as he says, “We have used recycled handloom material, industrial waste, plastic, mesh, and also bindis which were cut and sides discarded, most have been incorporated in our overlay work.”
But that is just a glimpse of Amit’s futuristic line, which also made a play for used stockings as surface textures, as well as straws to mould skirts worn with a snug shrug. “The gum boots were a special project, we gave it to our craftsmen and asked them to play around with it and they came back with flashes of colour and abstract designs,” he explains.
Engineered clothing has been Amit’s mainstay and what he takes pride in is combining myriad elements, that’s why the cropped jackets with exaggerated pockets, the boyish shorts or snake skin patterned black leather jackets were breaking free from the conformist shackles of style and what it dictates. Though only meant for an adventurous few, who would like to wear their free-spiritedness on their sleeves, quite literally, what was heart warming was Amit’s commitment to the cause.
The paint splatter on draped jackets and the behemoth dots on plain white shirts in the end drove home the point that the future is all about reusing, re-crafting and revitalising what already exists.