When the studio came home

A Home Studio Kit, conceptualised by Pearl Academy, gave students a way to continue their practical learning

When fashion design was learnt from home

Maithilee Junakar, a Fashion Communication student at Pearl Academy’s School of Contemporary Media, was reading about Queen Cleopatra and her cats while also fostering a cat. So, when her Home Studio kit landed up, she decided to use her cat for a concept shoot for her assignment.

Maithilee Junakar’s shot of her cat’s eye

“She has green eyes and I thought I could use a close up. The lights and tripod from the home kit helped keep my camera stable and get the crisp clear image of the iris,” she says.

The Home Studio Kit was Pearl Academy’s way of adding to their students’ learning experience. With the pandemic-led lockdowns confining everyone to their homes, the institution came up with the idea of providing kits so that the students could set up a functional workplace in their homes. Developed in consultation with the academic teams, the kits varied acccording to the various curriculums offered. Wacom tablets, sewing machines, fashion mannequins/mini dress forms, drafting boards, hand-knitting devices, block-printing kits, Arduino kits, software stacks, sketching kits along with complete access to Adobe Creative Suite and various digital libraries and courses were sent out to the students.

Nandini Agarwal created a new outfit from recycled material

Nandini Agarwal, from the School of Fashion, focused her project on “developing a relationship with the things we wear”. Since her kit allowed her to work and play with different fabrics, she “took my mum’s old saris and scarves” and created a new outfit.

Kamya Gupta’s photo for the theme Lounging in 2020

For Kamya Gupta, also student of Fashion Media and Communication, the kit came in handy for her assignment of creating a magazine. Her theme was ‘Lounging in 2020’, which she explains as “Netflix, chill and nowhere to go”. The equipment in her kit allowed her to shoot a variety of professional images, she says.

Prof. Nandita Abraham, President, Pearl Academy, explains the rationale behind the institute’s decision to send out these kits. “We took a long-term view of the situation and realised that a home studio is a great way to enable them to learn at their own pace and practice as much as they want even after the re-opening of campuses.”