JOIN USWeaving magic in style
Stepping out of one’s comfort zone and doing something that they really love is what it means to pursue one’s dream. The same stands true for Amit Vijaya and Richard Pandav both of who have completed their education in botany and engineering before they realised their love for textiles and fabrics.
Later on, both of them did their post graduate courses on textile design and apparel design respectively from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. That’s when they discovered their passion for the aesthetics of clothing and created their label ‘Amrich’ officially on 2011, which defines elegance of simplicity, beauty of hand-made and indulgence of comfort.
“We started off working with a lot of craft clusters from around the country. While we were still studying, we were chosen to showcase our work at the Lakme GenNext, which was the first stepping stone for our label. We got rave reviews for our collection, but like every newbie, we didn’t know what to do when orders started pouring in. However, we decided to first learn the details rather than jump into it without any knowledge,” says Amit.
The duo work primarily with hand woven textiles, from all over the country. “Even after a span of 5 years, what our customers relate to mostly are the shapes and cuts of a garment. They are very friendly and anybody can carry it well. From an extremely thin to an oversized women. It is a sense of pleasure to see people with any body type slipping into our clothes. That’s what keeps us going. We tend to keep the look of a garment graphic so it is bold and at the same time understated,” details Richard.
The duo’s latest collection — ‘Crisscross’ is all about playing with stripes and lines. They have focussed on creating some mesmerising designs with just them.
“For the new Spring-Summer collection, we were just doodling and scribbling and we realised that simple lines can be so effective and interesting.
A moving dot creates a line and those lines can be replayed in a variety of ways — checks, stripes and asymmetry. We thought of layering because most of our textiles are sheer as we work with fine handlooms. One can’t really wear something very sheer and be comfortable. So, that got us in layering of stripes on stripes and creating crisscross patterns. These details are simple but engineered to make something more exciting,” explains Amit.
Stipes with stripes and checks, playing with a lot of cuts on flowing garments and flares are the things that dominate the collection. “When talking about ‘Crisscross’, one also think of contrast. Though the garments are little fitted and structured, we have also added a little volume which gives out a grandeur to the outfit. We generally work with the different techniques popular to a region, understand how its aesthetics and then work on our designs. We develop our own textiles and never pick up something from the market,” says Amit.
Ask them the key elements that they keep in mind while designing clothes. Richard points out, “Clean, sophisticated, wearable and elegance are the terms we constantly work for and try to bring out in our garments.”
Amit advices the budding designers is to follow their passion and be true to their values. “Don’t get swayed by the trends that are there today and gone tomorrow.
Find a language and a signature of your own to work with. If you look back to see all the great designers you will notice that they are the ones who have been grounded and worked through difficulties but stayed true to their path,” says Amit.