Designer–anthropologist working between Chitral and Scotland
Born and raised in Edinburgh, Adil trained in Textile Design at Heriot-Watt University and spent his early career designing for fashion houses across Europe, before completing a Master’s in Anthropology, Art & Perception at the University of St Andrews.
His practice now sits where textiles, fieldwork and storytelling meet. Through his studio work and long-term collaborations in the Chitral valley of northern Pakistan, he develops wool-based projects that centre artisan labour, local economies and climate justice, with a particular focus on the endangered handwoven cloth known as Shu.
Adil received the Dewar Art Award for the cross-cultural project Twilling Tweeds, connecting Harris Tweed weavers in the Outer Hebrides with embroiderers in Chitral through workshops, tapestries and small-edition textiles. His work has since been shown at institutions including the Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture, Patrick Geddes Centre at Riddle’s Court, An Lanntair, and Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre in Kuwait.
Alongside Twilling Tweeds, Adil co-founded Làlgar Foundation in Chitral, where he leads research, film and education projects that treat craft knowledge as both cultural heritage and a tool for more just futures.
