Sleepless nights, sweat and hard work were all part of the countdown to ‘Kaleidoscope 2010', the fashion show showcasing the final collection of the graduating class of Post Graduate Diploma in Fashion Designing and Apparel Merchandising course at St. Teresa's College.
On the eve of the fashion show the second floor of Elysium, the auditorium, is abuzz with activity. The in-house choreographers take the models through the ‘walk', the stance etc. even as the designers, whose clothes will be on show, look on nervously. The graduating class of 2010, of the diploma course, has 11 bright young women with stars in their eyes (sleep too) as they prepare for the show that will present their works to the world.
Sheer hard work
Unlike the students of the degree course in fashion technology (B.F.T) who are taught cuts and silhouettes, seams and hemlines over a period of three years, these young women from varied educational backgrounds do it in a year-and-a-half. But the faculty says that in a manner that works to their advantage in some ways, ‘they are more mature in the way they handle the work.'
The hard work and the effort that the budding designers have put in speaks volumes about the quality of their work. The fashion technology lab looked like a place where a lot of action had been taking place, the students are their own pattern-masters and tailors not just glamorous designers. They are with the garment right from when it takes shape in their imagination till it becomes a real garment.
Eleven students…varied sensibilities, and clothes that are extremely different from each other. These are ramp garments, so for those who are wondering about the ‘wearability' factor stop wondering, the answer is a resounding ‘NO!' Since there are no limits to the imagination for the final collection, they range from collections inspired by jelly fish, ‘Jelly World' (Manju Krishnan) to faith-inspired ‘Rida – Favoured by God' (Nisha Shihab) or film-inspired ‘Autobots' (Anjusha N. A.).
The designers have pushed boundaries in terms of execution of their chosen themes. For instance ‘Sound of Silence' (Aswati Satish) derives heavily from philosophy, from the concept of the Chakras. Similarly ‘Dhyana Sampanna' (Jincy S.) turns to mural paintings to interpret the three forms of the Mother Goddess, the creator, preserver and destroyer, through garments. Colours and motifs are inspired heavily from our mural tradition. ‘Tree of Life' (Anju V. A.) was inspired by the Jewish concept of the tree of life, which sees life as a continuum of sorts. On the other the mathematical principal of the ‘Golden Mean' (Shigeena Salim) has inspired the collection with the same moniker. Her collection was one of the few which comprised structured garments, right down to mathematical precision.
‘Nautical Miles' (Minu Mittu Mathew) is the only knitwear collection, and putting that together has taken a lot of hard work, vouch the faculty. ‘Spectra' (Surya Marakkar) is inspired by the Lady of Justice, and the all-suffering tormented woman. The other collections on show were ‘Aparajitha' (Lekha K. S.) and ‘Themis' (Meenu Tom).
Just a couple of designers have bothered with menswear, the reason? ‘the theme doesn't warrant it!'
If you think this was one of the run-of-the-mill kind of college fashion shows, you are mistaken. The designs were very professional. Most of the designers experimented with creating textures, not the easy way with sequins or beads but with fabric or embroidery and the focus of most of the designers was the drape of the garment.
The fabrics that the young designers used were silk, cotton, linen, organza, knit fabric etc. Along with the fashion show of the PG diploma students, a collection based on the craft documentation project was presented by the final year (B.F.T.) fashion technology students. That collection too shows a lot of promise.
