Budding Designers

Wills Lifestyle hosted the seventh edition of ‘The Debut’, an initiative for young fashion students, the future designers of the country, to promote their creativity and showcase their skills.

The event, held recently at Orion Mall, saw 13 students presenting their works to a panel of judges comprising eminent designers Manoviraj Khosla, Raj Shroff and Cora Goteman, head of department, fashion design, Pearl Academy.

These candidates were shortlisted after qualifying in a previous round, wherein their illustration-based design portfolios were evaluated. In this round, they were judged on parameters like creativity, technicality and commercial viability.

“‘The Debut’ is a unique platform that nurtures and recognises young talent in the field of fashion design. We are delighted at the response received and are sure that the initiative will only become stronger in the years to come,” says Atul Chand of ITC’s lifestyle retailing business division.

Stunning hand-tailored outfits by the students were displayed by the City’s models and the regional round saw some really good designs and themes explored. From ‘Retro Circus’, using clown collars and circus tents as inspiration to ‘Op Art’, using 3D structures and lines to ‘Indomania’, which concerned the country’s past — it was evident that a lot of time, thought and effort had gone into each collection.
Even the judges were quite impressed by the craftsmanship. “I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. At the end of the day, clothes need to be commercially viable because someone will wear it. Some of these students have understood that and have a lot of potential to make a difference in the industry,” expresses designer Manoviraj Khosla.

It was quite interesting to hear the designers speak about the look they chose and describe the inspiration behind it. “It took me three weeks to make my collection. I focussed on the hippie culture and recreated the ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967,” shares an excited Sanjana Jain of Pearl Academy, Chennai, one of the winners of this round for her turquoise gypsy dress and hipster shorts. She informs that she is already planning her third outfit for the finals.

The other short-listed participants to go the finals in New Delhi are Anubha Jain (Pearl Academy, Delhi), Mridul Jacob (Pearl Academy, Chennai), Raunaq Arora (NIFT, Hyderabad) and Padmaraj (NIFT, Bangalore).

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Supplements>MetroLife / by DHNS / February 26th, 2013