Back to the future

Back to the future

Delhi-based designer Amit Aggarwal, who is known for his experimental work, will be hosting the finale show at Lakme Fashion Week Summer/ Resort 2020. In sync with the theme for the fashion event this year — #BetterIn3D, the designer will present his latest collection titled AXIL. While the outfits will reflect his signature style of futuristic biomimicry, which is the imitation of the elements of nature, it will be symbolic of the modern woman who is strong yet gentle, structured yet free-flowing.
We chat him up to find out more about the grand finale presentation:

What is the inspiration behind your #Betterin3d collection?
For me, in lay man’s terms, 3D is something that projects out. But in the context of our association with Lakmé, it’s about bringing out a variety of different personalities in the woman or man of today. I think #BetterIn3D obviously means that there are different aspects to a person that could be highlighted, and an individualistic approach is the way forward.
The core of the brand has always been to push the individual nature of a person. Everything around us is beautiful, if we give that particular person or thing a chance to be able to flourish in its own aspect. And I think that the whole aspect of #BetterIn3D is exactly that — where you understand that every personality is beautiful in their own right.

What is your colour palette for this collection and why?
The colour and mood of AXIL is of a beautiful organic flower growing in concrete. It’s a very interesting understanding of vivid flora that surrounds us now and in the future out of cross pollination, but also co-exists with cement, brick, steel and metal. Imagine a world where flowers are metallic and concrete is coloured. 

Tell us about your signature style of futuristic biomimicry that encourages one to think beyond the present. How do you introduce it into clothing? 
This collection is very close to my heart. When I actually look at the natural organism or the structure that created it, I understand that there is a beautiful map to create something that has stood the test of time. There is a beauty beyond the visual aspect of it and in understanding why it would stay. When I look at these clothes, I go deeper into the microscopic understanding of these things. I also try and understand that embellishment can’t just be a surface, but can also aid in your movement or actually move around with your body. 

What is the 3D element in the collection that you are presenting? 
The 3D element comes with a great juxtapositioning of the natural and the manmade. I try to understand the blooming foliage of flowers and use it with moulded recycled plastic. The entire collection emanates the idea of a blooming flower through industrial waste and   industrial aspects through very meticulous hand done techniques. So, I feel that there is a cross understanding of things and when you see the collection, you’d see that there are certain forms that are very meticulously made. It is beautiful, but made of something completely unusual. I won’t reveal it exactly right now. 

How do you feel debuting as the grand finale designer for this season? 
Of course, a grand finale comes with a lot of expectations because it’s the closing of a very big season. I think it is also paving the way for what the next season of fashion will look like. But it also brings in a lot of contentment, happiness and certainly a sense of joy that something which seemed extremely radical or unwearable almost 10 years ago when I started the brand, has now found acceptance and become an aesthetic that both women and men would like to include in their wardrobes. And I think that is, after all, a feeling of happiness.

What detailing have you used? 
My collection is about the future of beauty and fashion and bringing out a new dimension in you. The entire ideology of silhouetting is an understanding of not just tradition, but also how traditional attire would look in the near future. As living organisms, we keep evolving. With the advent of social media, you have an access to someone wearing an outfit 30 seconds ago in New York. And I feel that if you talk about silhouettes and cuts, we are talking about super contemporary dresses, understanding the language of what the saree feels like, moves like and occasion that one needs to wear it for, but also what the saree in the future could look like. And I feel that the lehengas are also super contemporary and there is a lot of cross pollination between understanding silhouettes from all across the world.

Tell us about the ambience that you’d like to create to support the futuristic theme of the show.
My brand is tied with word ‘futuristic’. But I also feel that the future definitely comes from where we started from. I won’t reveal the exact location right now, but it is a place that has history, that has stood the test of time, but also what that place could be 300 years from now. So, it’s really morphing an entire historic piece.

Who will your showstopper be, and why? 
A showstopper, in its very true sense, needs to be a very dynamic or three-dimensional personality, someone that has gone beyond just being boxed. It should be a person who is the muse for a show or a concept. Besides that, they need to be a great family person and need to have a lot more than just being an outwardly beautiful person. And you will know who this person is soon.
 

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