Dushyant Gupta, 32, who has Down Syndrome (DS), is an employee at the McDonald’s outlet, Nehru Place. Gupta wants to be self-sufficient, and has managed working here for nine years and counting.
But not without daily obstacles. “I still face trouble buttoning up my shirt, so I have to wear a T-Shirt. I can’t tie my shoe laces, and I prefer shoes with Velcro straps. I am fond of wearing stylish clothes, but there are no options available as per my body proportions,” he said.
Since Gupta and many like him with DS have sensory issues – clothes’ tags and inner seams irritate him – he is left to choose from basic, unfashionable clothing options. Offering a solution are six students from the JD Institute of Fashion Technology, Hauz Khas village, who have designed a collection of six garments titled Hiwaga (wonderful mystery), for those with DS.
The formal launch is scheduled in May, during their annual The Fashion Awards (TFA). “The range is inspired by the Monarch butterfly. These butterflies travel from North America to South in bunches of millions and trillions. One generation starts the journey and the other generation ends it.
The mysterious thing is that they travel the same path every time. Our TFA theme is chaos, so we have tried to match it with that,” says 25-year-old Iqra Majid Mir, a UGFD Semester 4 student.Mir’s group comprises Muskan Jain (UGFD Sem 6), Warqua Akhtar (UGFD Sem 6), Deepmala Singh (PGFD Sem 4) and Akarshan Mani (UGFD Sem 4) and Parul Sharma (PGFD Sem). They began their survey on this target audience (TA) in October, last year.
“We came across international brands such as Old Navy, Justice, Hanna Andersson, LulaRoe, NBZ Apparel, who are designing clothes for people with Down Syndrome. But there is no Indian brand doing so,” says Sharma, 22.Akhtar, 22, says, “People with DS face many challenges every day. Being fashion designers, it’s our duty to give them a chance to enjoy being stylish.”The survey revealed alarming details. Sample this. A few parents said they avoid taking kids to parties because cannot find good clothes that accommodate their specific bodily features: shorter-than-usual legs, fat belly, eagle chest and heavy arms.
“The staff of NGOs and parents told us that such people can’t bear shiny and glittery things, but like bright colours and pastels. Green gives a calming and soothing effect. We are not using black because its aggressive, but have used light blue, light green, pink shades,” said Jain, 21.These students are also using hidden magnetic buttons and zippers instead of loop-buttons for the garments because their TA has short fingers. “We are planning to do outer seams as decorative trim that we are looking at. The fabrics – cotton twill, twill silk and twill lycra – are sourced from Harpar Group [textile company based in Okhla]. These fabrics are organic, soft, stretchable, lightweight and wrinkle-resistant,” informs Jain.
To create this fashion line was not easy because many of those with DS can’t communicate properly as their tongue tends to stick out of the mouth. “But at the same time, they love talking to strangers and hug people. It feels so good to know them. So, creating comfortable clothes for them is satisfying,” concludes.
Price: Rs 5,000 and Rs 8,000
Contact: Suma Sinha 8375875034