Students showed noteworthy pieces at the recent FDDI Hyderabad graduation show, ranging from protest fashion to collaborations with artisans from Karwan and Narsapur.
Graduation exhibitions at fashion colleges are an evidence of aspiring designers' unrestrained creative inclinations. They exhibit the skills of these designers who are unafraid to embrace their rebellious spirit, sans the filters that are added later for commercial viability.
Students from the 2019 batch showcased 27 various collections at the recent graduation show of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), Hyderabad.
Among them, a handful stood out for their collaborations with artisans and weaver clusters, as well as for making a statement through protest fashion.
In mid-2022, a collection titled Insane Space paid tribute to a Class X kid in New Delhi who was bullied. According to news sources, the student's peers mocked and assaulted him because of his attire choices.
The silhouettes exhibited as part of Insane Space do not conform to the norm. The items ranged from anti-fit pants to cold-shoulder tops with frilled necks, embroidered pocket flaps on trousers to tasselled jute strands on jackets in earthy beiges, browns, and whites. This collection, created by Aman Ashok, Kumari Ayushi, Riya Pratap, and Pranjal Arora, was named the year's Best Creative Design Collection.
“We used raw jute for our collection to signify the rawness of nature and white as a symbol of peace,” shares Aman Ashok. The collection was intended to emphasise the need to accept people as they are.
Another set of students worked with handloom weavers in Karwan, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, to make contemporary costumes using traditional materials.
"We wanted a collection that would blend the beauty of latticework and intricate handloom weaves," says Abhishek Yadav, speaking on behalf of the team that spent several hours chatting with weavers and learning about their weaving practises, yarns, and textures. The latticework appears on the sleeves or pockets of their Jaal collection, and some of the outfits stand out for their crisp but exaggerated shoulders. Abhishek, Prabhat Kumar, Kumari Shwetangi, and Ankit Kumar, the students, intend to sell the outfits and split the money with the weavers.
In preparation for winter, when crochet is expected to be a popular trend, student designers Deekshika, Vakshika, Pawan, and Shamili partnered with almost 50 lacework artists in Narsapur. The students claim that their collection, Fagelbo (a bird in a nest), attempts to adapt nest-building ideas to crochet. "We combined the nest weaving technique with the art of crochet." "A bird's beak serves as a hook, and the twigs, grass, and other materials used to build the nest are replaced by yarns of various colours and textures," Deekshika explains.
Over the course of 25 days, the collection was designed with the assistance of artisans from the Narsapuram Mandavaripeta cluster.
The jury awarded eight collections from the 27 shown at FDDI in various categories.
*Image Source: Internet