CHENNAI: Cloth of various cuts, patterns, colours, and sizes grabbed our attention at the House of DSOFT exhibition held at Hotel Green Park in Vadapalani on Sunday. Numerous stalls filled with different clothing lines and labels dotted the hall. Each stall was manned by the woman responsible for the fantastic fabric beside her.
The first edition of this exhibition, Designing School of Fashion Technology (DSOFT) is the brainchild of actor Saranya Ponvannan. As the proprietor of the institution and an avid designer for over 25 years, the intent of the workshop is to give her students practical experience and business skills. “I loved making clothes for my daughters, and they loved to receive them. Some of these women are housewives or cannot go to work due to family situations. They usually take up this work from home and do orders. This really is a step forward for women,” said Ponvannan.
For R Anu, however, this was an opportunity to finally showcase her hard work. The ovarian cancer survivor took up the class and used to travel from her hometown in Vellore to Chennai on weekends to attend her classes. “I have to thank Saranya ma’am for all her support, as well as my husband and my daughter. I could not have solid foods at the time, and could only have juice.
Saranya ma’am used to arrange juice for me. She also let me study and set up this stall for free. I am a role model to my classmates for fighting the disease, and a role model for patients in the hospital for following my dreams,” said Anu, who runs a line called Golden Spool.
The event was inaugurated by actress Suhasini Maniratnam. “We had classes on both stitching and designing. Even if you are a beginner, after the five-month course, you will be able to stitch anything. It is a very satisfying feeling to make a piece of attire by yourself,” said Alamelu Bharathi, a graduate from the batch of December 2018.