Kancheepuram pattu on a cocktail dress. Peacock feathers as head gear. Cross cuts on army wear. These were some of the highlights of the collections created by the graduates of the Institute of Design (IOD) this year. At the Savera hotel on Thursday, IOD hosted their annual graduation fashion show amid much pomp and colour.
Students experimented with their designs using vibrant colours, bright textures and beautiful materials. The collection varied from themes like ‘Army senoritas’, ‘Valentine’, ‘Indo-Western’, ‘Egyptian dreams’ and so on.
If designer Suguna clubbed ethnic elegance in long skirts and pants, Nalini used leather and lycra in her army collection, while Durgadevi used Egyptian designs with an Indian twist. Designers showcased their talent using a variety of fabrics teamed with accessories like leather boots, pouches, feather earrings, georgette jewellery and statement neckpieces. “I have used the lotus for my colour theme as I have draped cocktail dresses on my models. It has a touch of Indian silk fabric on the Western dress with upbeat pinkish red sari fabric on a sober white cocktail dress,” says Arunima, an IOD student.
One of the judges of the show Karthik Srinivasan, celebrity photographer said: “I like the variety incorporated in the designs, ranging from Egyptian-inspired creations, feather textures and netted fabrics. And colours like blue, bright red, dark green, thick black really caught my eye.” He added, “I loved the styling done using the peacock as the inspiration, it was different and the beauty of each model was perfectly displayed in this attire.”