There’s little doubt that Technopark, in addition to being the state’s IT centre, is the city’s fashion capital too.
Many techies are known to follow fashion trends or aim to make a style statement themselves. Several of them take their interest in fashion a step ahead and take part in fashion shows; a handful of them even model professionally.
Reshma Sebastian, a senior software developer, is one of the more recognisable faces on the fashion scene in campus. She’s done quite a few fashion shoots, was a cover girl (in 2011) for Vanitha , a popular women’s magazine, designs bridal and bridesmaid couture and has even acted in a movie – Charlie .
“I’ve always been interested in fashion; an interest that I share with my mother, Sayu, who used to fashion all my clothes herself. Gradually, it became a thing to bond and we would spend hours pouring over swatches of material, mixing and matching various combinations,” says Reshma. She also organises fashion shows, along with her colleague, Midhunlal, for an annual event at the MNC that they work for.
“We took it up as a challenge. I design the women’s clothes and Midhun takes care of the menswear designs,” she says. The first year they choreographed one tracing the history of Bollywood – for which around 40 people walked the ramp. “The second year it was men’s and women’s couture. We trimmed down the number of participants, shortened the time and upped the quality. It was a very virtual experience for the audience,” she says.
Midhun also designs bridal wear for his friends and often helps other companies on campus organise fashion shows. “I’ve been modelling since my college days and have appeared on TV shows too. I love to wear good clothes and keep abreast with the latest trends. In fact, my friends, both men and women, ask me for fashion advice,” says the senior HR executive.
Vinay Chandra, a corporate communications executive, is also keen on fashion. He often walks the ramps on campus and models for ads too. “I’m a dancer too so I have no stage fright. You just have to walk oozing attitude,” he says.
There’s no dearth of opportunity to strut their stuff on campus, for whenever there is an event/celebration, there’s bound to be a fashion show. Point in case IBS’ annual talent show Revel, which just got over. It always features a fashion show as part of its line-up. “Fashions are huge crowd pullers. We themed this year’s show on the five elements, which was the general theme of Revel 2016,” says Janu Nandakumar, a process analyst, one of the 15 techies who are part of its ‘fashion team.’
“We had our costumes designed and brought in a professional event manager for it. We practised the choreography for around two weeks, perfecting the walk and ramp attitude,” explains Janu, who has been taking part in fashion shows from her college days at College of Engineering, Trivandum.
Similarly, fashion shows are a mainstay of (the long-overdue) Tech-a-break, UST-Global’s Foundation Day celebrations, McFadyen Solutions’ Foundation Day, Infosys’ cultural calendar, cultural club Natana’s events… “The only thing you have to keep in mind while walking the ramp is that you should carry the costume and only you can carry the costume,” says Midhun.
