The many faces of Amrit
Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, BY FAR is returning to its origins with a nostalgic campaign, highlighting its most iconic styles, staring one of fashion’s most sought after faces – the model, artist, and poet Amrit. A role model in the making, her multi-talented personality both reflects the brand’s creative vision of constant reinvention and adds richness to BY FAR’s iconic cast.
The eyes never lie. “Special people have not only special spirits but also a special eye to find something mostly unknown to many others,” Amrit says when we asked to learn more about her discovery as a model. Amrit (also called Amé) – fresh from the previous week’s BY FAR Core Style Campaign photoshoot – goes on, “So is the case with my mother agent Francesca Benedetto who found me through my poetry page. In this place, I had kept my identity strictly private but had only posted a photo of my eyes. At first, I would wonder a lot about what she saw in me without even fully seeing me. But once we met each other in person upon my arrival in Paris, a whole new world opened up for me.”
Born and raised in Punjab, India, Amrit lived in “a very different environment, having little knowledge about fashion.”
After debuting her modelling career, a year and a half ago, the 23-year-old multi-passionate artist had a stellar rise walking on the most coveted catwalks of Milan and Paris fashion week and appearing in editorials for Vogue Paris, Vogue Spain, W Magazine, Self Service, followed by big campaigns and even the cover of Vogue India.
“Once I started working, time broadened my understanding of the industry. I learned a lot of things, but the biggest lesson for me so far is that when you walk in and out of a set, it's crucial to carry thoughts that bring you closer to having internal balance because fashion can be very overwhelming at times.”
But modelling is just a side gig for the Punjabi artist. “Fashion has helped me be more in touch with my abilities to create and value what I can give to the world artistically,” she explains. Amrit grew up playing a lot of different instruments and finds joy in expressing her creative spirit through different fields of art.
“My art is my conversation with this world and worlds unknown. Drawing, painting, writing all these mediums help me travel through the different layers of life,” she says. “They work as a key to unlock the truth of my true being. It helps me to learn and unlearn; find comfort in discoveries and challenges.”
Amrit described herself as a very spontaneous artist. Working from a little art studio inside her apartment, which enables her to get in and start working, whenever inspiration strikes her. “Most of the time, my ideas sit in my head in the middle of the night, like those angels from our dreams, and then they can drive me crazy, very crazy, until I start laying them down on the paper. To me, these processes are spiritual and often outpouring solely from my subconsciousness,” she reveals.
“Words, image, art, these are the tools that help us better comprehend this life,” she told us when poised with the question ‘what is more powerful, image or words?’ “Everything carries a language of its own. What idea can define, words can question & when words can open new doors in your mind, image is well capable of swallowing you whole. The real power is in our openness to receive the meaning they provide us.”
When we ask if she plans to expand her art universe further, as she is constantly reimagining her creative passions, she divulges, “Acting will be an extension of this self-searching as well. I want to discover what kind of stories I'll tell and how I’ll communicate with life through all the roles I will get to play on the big screen.”
Now, she lives in Paris, where she moved in late 2019 to pursue her artistic goals in Paris College of Art. “I have an ongoing love relationship with Paris. Paris is a wild city, and it understands my wildness very well too. Artistically, Paris is like a home to me, with a new colour in the sky whenever I open the window. The city contains so many artistic visions for me, and it guides me to go after them and see where they can take me. I like it best here.”
Enchanted by the emotion, intimacy and empowerment that flow from her art, we asked Amrit to create for us something inspired by our Core Styles Campaign. These are the styles that stood the test of time, achieved a degree of collective fascination among our followings. After she had touched, felt and experienced the cult energy of each piece from the collection, Amrit sent us two poems and two artworks of female bodies.
“If you observe my art, I’ve always put more focus on drawing or painting female figures. For years artists have used female figures merely as ‘Subjects’, while I want my art to celebrate and honour our femininity and give space to the freedom we feel through our vulnerability and our boldness. And not shy away from being whatever versions of ourselves we want to be without the world telling us to be one way or another.”
This boldness in her artistic expressions might be inherited from her grandmother, who is Amrit’s biggest role model. “She was a very adventurous woman and someone who embodies strength in her words and actions. To me, her fearlessness was like a mirror that still reflects through all my family members hearts like a blessing, coming straight from her spirit.”
Having such a strong example and supportive family “who continue to embrace every experience that this new world, this fashion journey, is offering” her, it seems all the options are on the table for her.
