Ten fashion-design students from the Dream Zone School of Creative Studies woke up early last Sunday to make a difference. It was International Women’s Day and they started embroidering and weaving different little stories on a long piece of cloth. In less than five hours they had stitched up a fashionable gown that was 500-metres long! Their innovative creation was showcased at Vishal de Mall, much to the amazement of visitors to the mall during the day.
Model Neha Jain strutted across the mall atrium sporting the serpentine velvet gown and the audience got to glance at the varied messages the garment had on it. At the fag end of its length, the dress carried 10 silhouettes of women in different roles.
It was a random idea that struck these students. “We wanted to make a point on women’s safety and empowerment this Women’s Day in the background of the Nirbhaya case,” says Priya, a faculty member. Initially the students thought of making 100 garments in a single day, but then all the creativity was clubbed into one dress. The institute is aiming to enter the Limca Book of Records with the dress. “So far, the longest on record is a 110-metre long bridal gown,” says Priya
The blue gown features heavy pleats, frontal tucks, a fancy fish-cut silhouette, embellishments such as stone and appliqué works put together in an aesthetic manner. The main bodice of the gown is made of velvet with gauze lining and sleeves, while the entire veil is made of tissue fabric. “We chose the combination of blue and cream-white, as both the colours symbolise happiness, peace and depth of thought. It took us a whole week right from the ideation to completion. We worked day and night on the process,” says Thanga Rajeshwari, Centre head.
The making of the garment costed the students Rs.50,000. “Each of us contributed Rs.5000. Sourcing the fabric was tough. A shop in town specially brought it for us from Mumbai,” says Sandhya. Her friends Umeetha Patel from Courtalam and Sathya Priya are thrilled with outcome. “It was like a challenge to finish the gown in flat five hours. We had never worked so hard. We are glad that it paid off,” says Preethi Meena. Abhinaya, who comes from a traditional family says, “It was a struggle for me to convince my parents about fashion as a career. Now, they are proud of me and I hope I get to do more such great projects every Women’s Day.”
“Our idea was to spread the message of women empowerment through fashion and we put our heart and soul into making the garment,” says Jafreen Javid, who is pursuing fashion designing post-marriage. Talking of women’s safety, Divya Dinakaran, says, “As students of fashion, we oppose the argument that rape of a woman is related to the dress she wears. There can be no justification for ugly acts such as rapes.” Says Sneha, her classmate, “Fashion is all about freedom and creativity. What a girl wears is her choice. Even women wearing saris and other Indian clothes get sexually assaulted. We really hope the mindset of people changes for good.”
Rabik Raja, a young Madurai lad, is the only male member of the team who dropped out of engineering to study fashion, against the wishes of his parents. “Being the only guy in the group, I have learnt to respect women. I see them as colleagues and fellow humans. I was equally enthusiastic about spreading the Women’s Day message through our record-breaking garment.”
He says he was pleased to see a large number of men coming forward to sign on the veil of the dress, vowing not to harass women.
(With inputs from N.S.Barath)
