Style with substance

The last couple of weeks have been particularly hectic for the fashion frat from Mohali’s Northern Indian Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT). That’s the way it is each year with the students putting final touches to their collection before the annual showcase. As always the D-day,in this case Anukama 2009,arrived on time and Sunday (May 31) saw leading models from the ramp slip into 44 student designer collections for the annual show held at Tagore Theatre. This time it was an indoor venue,much to the disappointment of the photographers from the media who had to stick to the aisles and shoot from uncomfortable angles. Nevertheless,the show was a success with the students putting forth collections that were not just creative but innovative as well. With the Minister of Industries and Commerce,Punjab,Manoranjan Kalia in attendance along with a host of special invitees including parents of the students,Anukama 2009 rolled on to the choreography set by Kaushik Ghosh.

Each of the collections was designed around a theme and looking at the display it seems the students were surely thinking out of the box. Be it origami or basket weaving,the Indian Air Force to Lucknowi tehzeeb,Elvis to Cadbury Gems,the budding designers put forth their impressions. The first phase of the show saw 14 designers from Knitwear Design present their collections while 30 others from fashion design followed it up. And walking down the ramp were models like Sonalika Sahay,Tina Chatwal,Amanpreet Wahi,Krishna Somani,Parul Chaudhary,Sahiba Singh,Jaishree Tahiliani to list a few. It was in fact surprising to see male models being made full use of as many of the students chose to put together menswear collections,unlike the past where womenswear has dominated on the ramp. While it’s hard to choose to favourites in the line-up,Meena Singh’s ‘Origami’,Amanpreet Kaur’s take on digital printing in ‘Mosaic’,Arunima’s hockey wear for women called ‘Stick Attackers’,Praveen Kumar’s ‘Ikebana’ and Neetu Brar’s ‘Banjara’ got us applauding all the way. Here’s looking forward to next year!

And the award goes to…
FASHION DESIGN :
Best Design Collection:‘Recalling Elvis’ by Chetan Chitauria
Most Creative Collection:‘Basket Weaving’ by Priyamvada
Most Commercial Collection:‘Articulating Peace’ by Vinita
The Best Usage of Traditional Textile: ‘Bindani’ by Parinita Galfat
The Best Construction Collection:‘Garden of Fragrance’ by Arvinder
Special Jury Award:‘Geometrical Insignia’ by Meena Singh and ‘Gems’ by Arti
KNITWEAR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY:
Best Knitwear Design Collection:
‘College Bunkers’ by Anshuman
Most Creative Collection:
‘Pea Fowl’ by Esha Singh
Most CommercialCollection:
‘Stick Attackers’
by Arunima and ‘Hi Fly’
by Niraj Kumar
Special Jury Award:
‘Ikebana’ by Praveen
Kumar and ‘Banjara’
by Neetu Brar