Inter Woven

Multi-disciplinary designer Rooshad Shroff and apparel designer Amit Aggarwal on how the intersection of design, craft, fashion, and commercials informs their practices.

- Natasha Khurana

When Amit Aggarwal broke onto the scene in 2008 with the label Morphe, his fantastical fashions immediately found favour. At his showings, avant-garde forms, at once moulded and fluid, caused goosebumps, and inspired incredulity: “How does he do that?” In 2012, he quit Morphe (for which he had collaborated with export house, Creative Impex) to translate that theatrical sensibility to his couture line, Amit Aggarwal. Over the last three seasons, he has enhanced his brand by launching a ready-to-wear label, Am.It, bringing his craft into the realm of everyday wear.

Meanwhile, Rooshad Shroff has won a steady stream of design awards since he debuted products and furniture under his six-year-old eponymous architecture practice. He has famously experimented with zardozi embroidery on wood, braiding yarn through holes drilled into recycled Burma teak, a technique he’s patented. Other notable experimentations include carving light bulbs as thin as 6mm out of single pieces of marble, and layering paint on wood, sandpapered down to reveal striking agate patterns. He’s also responsible for designing the Christian Louboutin store in his hometown, Mumbai, as well as the store windows for Hermès, while a Good Earth store in Jodhpur is in the offing.