Screams and wolf-whistles fill up the Ball Room at The Residency. Students from city colleges are competing to check who’s the loudest! The MC, Raj Kumar, eggs them on as he points the mike to the audience. All this at Coimbatore Fashion Fest Season One, organised by the Attitude Design Factory. The participants are students and young designers.
There is frenzy and excitement outside the Ball Room. Models try out their costumes as designers issue directions to the make-up men. Designer Manoj Saravanan, the organiser, is busy with phone calls. Manoj, one of the organisers of Bangalore Fashion Fest, has teamed up with Anand of Anya, a boutique in R.S. Puram, for this one. “Since we are promoting the ‘Go Green’ cause, our sequences feature garments made of organic cotton and pure silk,” he says.
The show features 15 young designers and students from different colleges, including the costume and fashion designing students of PSG College of Arts and Science and PSG College of Technology. One of the student-designers is all excited as he gets ready to showcase his collection of Western wear made of viscose. The designers check for last-minute creases and wrong folds, and before you know it, the lights dim and the DJ plays ramp music. The first sequence is by ‘Gotcha’, a group of final-year students from PSG CAS. Models take to the stage in white and red wedding gowns. The diamonds and stones on their tiaras sparkle. The green concept comes alive through leaf-shaped hair clips.
The next collection is Sparsh, a mix of saris and partywear designed by Sathyashree. Models wearing half-saris and sporting grand sherwanis earn a lot of wows. But, the loudest is reserved for a whacky black outfit accessorised with colourful pencils.
A joint sequence by Anya and Manoj features Indian saris and Indo-Westerns. Men in dhotis with golden zari borders walk with their partners who wear flowing satin gowns. Next up on stage are models in glimmering, detail-rich Kancheevaram saris. The music is a huge hit — Carnatic music coupled with party beats.
The Jungle Collection, designed by PSG CAS students Shaktipriya and Abhiram, features beaded accessories, skirts with long frills and loud garden prints. As the show-stoppers and designer walk on the ramp, their juniors root for them.
Manoj says the response surprised him. “We did not expect them to turn up in such huge numbers. The intention is just to encourage young designers by providing them with a platform.”
