Finding high fashion in recycled materials

NIFT Hyderabad fashion show focused on unconventional and used materials by students for a ramp walk as part of the cultural fest.
The students transformed unconventional materials like plastic garbage bags, tin foil, Styrofoam, metal wires, paper, PVC, foam board and bamboo mats into stunning pieces of wearable art.
The students transformed unconventional materials like plastic garbage bags, tin foil, Styrofoam, metal wires, paper, PVC, foam board and bamboo mats into stunning pieces of wearable art.

HYDERABAD: The ever-changing world of glamour and fashion is adding much to the environmental damage and that’s when it becomes necessary to take a step towards sustainable and recycled fashion.  National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad has come forward to make a contribution in its own way. The Art to Wear Fashion show held on Day II of the cultural fest Spectrum held recently at NIFT is one such event that promotes the notion that fashion can be found anywhere. This event was a glamour extravaganza filled evening with prominent personalities like actor Rana Daggubati, Miss Earth India Tejaswini Manogna and several others gracing the event as chief guests.

The students from different departments came together to create their own collection of garments made completely from un-conventional and recycled material. “This is their first step in creating an extensive design collection of their own as well as learning about the nuances of different materials other than fabric,” says Jyothirami Singothu, Student Development Activities Coordinator Department (SDAC) of Textile Design, NIFT.

This year’s theme for the entire fest was titled ‘Freak-a-Bloom’ which is derived from the Mexican festival ‘Dia de Los Muertos’ or ‘the-day-of-the-dead’. The Mexican culture celebrates death as a new beginning of a spiritual journey of the soul and it gauges the beauty and aesthetic sense in this dark term. In several parts of Latin America people from all walks of life gather to celebrate the idea of death and the new beginnings associated with it. And as the fashion show began, the students brought unconventional and used materials to life entwined in the concept of death and the beauty merged with it. These students took the attendees on an aesthetic journey showcasing their garments and the stories built around them. What was most interesting to see was their idea of beauty in death and how they blended it into fashion without going overboard.

The students were given a brief about the theme and are given strict instructions to use less than 20 per cent of fabric in the entire garment. “They  managed to come up with really creative conceptualization and execution for the fashion show. Some groups were inspired by the journey of a soul to new realm while some were inspired by famous characters rising from death to celebrate the life they had lived in the streets they. Food fantasies of childhood, musical instruments and the greatest departed legends were also taken as inspiration,” says Shivanand, the faculty in charge for Art To Wear, Spectrum.

The students transformed unconventional materials like plastic garbage bags, tin foil, Styrofoam, metal wires, paper, PVC, foam board and bamboo mats into stunning pieces of wearable art. There were frequent rounds of applause throughout the show. The fashion show also included popular clothing brands like Rowdy, Arka, Kalanjali and Ihtri showing their latest collections on the ramp.

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The New Indian Express
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