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Tag: amity mumbai

Alumni Diaries – DONUT by Dona

Amity School of Fashion Design & Technology has always had its arms open to creativity & new ideas along with encouraging its students to follow their hearts. In this piece of alumni diaries, we have batch 2016 – 2020 graduate, Ms. Dona Ann Kurian.

Currently, Dona Ann Kurian is a budding entrepreneur with her own fashion accessories brand startup – DONUT. Here’s how she is living, experiencing & sharing her success story – 

Interviewer – “I would like to start with how ASFDT helped you prepare for a career you wanted to pursue? 

Ms. Dona – “ASFDT has helped me in flourishing my skills and learning new things, which has helped me a lot in developing a startup and grow. Also, the various extracurriculars like Fashion shows and workshops helped me in knowing more about various things and establishing my skills. Moreover, the outstanding faculties and my mates have been a great support and impact throughout the process of my growth, and evidently, still are.” 

Interviewer – “That’s really great to know! ”And what would be that one accomplishment out of fashion school that you are most proud of?”

Ms. Dona – “That would be My own startup DONUT.”

via @crafed_donut instagram

Interviewer-” Congratulations on that! Could you tell us more about your venture?”

Ms. Dona – “DONUT is a small scale online venture right now, selling designer masks and hair accessories via Instagram. The brand focuses on sourcing material and creating innovative masks, collaborating with artists to put forth unique designs & support them in the process. All products are made with extreme care and strict quality controls. Following the guidelines from Govt in making masks as well as shipping across India. We constantly update our marketing strategies on the set up product page. I believe in actively learning and adapting to change.” 

Interviewer- “That really sounds like a #goals start up! Furthermore, which of your products do you think played a major role in escalating the brand success?”

Ms. Dona – “Adjustable ear loops, stylish designs and comfortable wear is what made Donut a success and 3 layered cotton fabric makes it a safe choice too. 

Offering products for both men and women, Donut has set up a stand in the Instagram market. Apart from masks, we now make hair accessories for women and plan to expand to casual clothing for women.”

via @crafted_donut instagram

Interviewer- “That’s quite impressive, which brings me to my next question,  When did you start DONUT & what was your idea behind a brand like this?”

Ms. Dona – “I started DONUT in 2020 in Kerala. 

My inspiration or say, idea behind this brand was to bring my creativity into reality, a real usable product in order to utilize my knowledge & expertise. In the modern world of trends and personalization, everyone wants to be unique in their outfits and having the option of a personal statement increases the chances of people buying and using the masks, this led to the development of my ideas into a brand that sells cotton masks with a style statement. ”

Interviewer – “It’s really great to know that all of this inspiration came from a tiny thought and how it is still climbing a ladder to success. Thank you so much for your time.”

DONUT by Dona is a brand inspiring other students at ASFDT & making the faculties proud. Check out the brand product page on Instagram 

@crafted_donut

Stay tuned for more such Alumni stories!

Author:
Lubaina Surury
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication

Editors:
Lubaina Surury
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphics:
Lubaina Surury
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication

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Shopping – Impulsive OR Intentional!

The designs, the colours, the textures, ah! Human psychology compels us to buy items due to their appealing nature. Though many people are passionate shoppers, claiming that they are ‘obsessed’ is quite another ball game.
Shopping is an everyday activity until it becomes addictive. A portmanteau derived from shop + alcoholic, ‘shopaholics,’ are two kinds. The people concerned with festooning a fashionable aura around themselves while keeping (or trying to keep) a check on their finances is of a positive type.

What on earth could be the other then? You guessed it!

A other type looks for excuses to splurge on unnecessary products they probably never touch. They ultimately end up feeling guilty but cannot control themselves easily.

HIT OF DOPAMINE – CAN’T BE WORN AGAIN

Some triggers provoke the buyer into purchasing unnecessary products. When items – however unnecessary – are affordable, a rush of anxiety kicks in, thus influencing the buyer to make that purchase quickly. Sales and flea markets prey on this vulnerability. Buyers are urged to make impulsive decisions, compounded when one is a shopaholic. Another such trigger is clutter: it is easy for shopaholics to go out and buy clothes compared to spending hours decluttering and organising what they already have. Impulsive shopping is not safe: it increases troubles like monetary concerns and mental stress.

OH NO – I”M FINE WITH FOMO 

On the other hand, intentional shopping is being able to control your expenditure by spending within your means. Cut your coat according to your cloth: this proverb is true indeed. Even if we are clumsy in a few instances in our lives, we go on working in specific ways – with routines, schedules and other structures – organizing our way through it all. It serves a profound purpose: to be under self-supervision and resist addictive activities (like excessive shopping). There is no negativity in intentional shopping. These shoppers find healthy ways to properly dispose of clothes (after their intense use). It is widely considered that a simple life devoid of clutter and excess is a genuinely wonderful life.

Intentional versus Impulsive: there is a fine line between these terms and, what’s more, a tough one to balance. You may not even realize you are addicted before you are overwhelmed with baggage (both physical and mental!) to get rid of. On which side of this precarious line do you fall?

Author:
Humpy Adepu
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Design
Atash Coyaji
2nd Year, B. Des. Textile & Product Design

Editors:
Lubaina Surury
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphics:
Pravara Kanekar
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication

Luxury Brands Shrugging the Pandemic

After the pandemic, there has been a significant shift in consumer behaviour owing to the rise of work-from-home culture resulting in an increase in internet shopping. In terms of the internet and the online world, luxury companies are not early adopters. Read on to see why!

Luxury companies’ digital sprint
Luxury brands are wary of the internet because they want to keep their items mysterious and hard to acquire. The brands seek to preserve their uniqueness and character by maintaining secrecy. From the way fashion shows are presented to how items are sold, the luxury fashion business is evolving at a fast rate. Brands are transitioning from physical modes to online in a more planned way than ever before.

Fashion show concept
There has been talk about whether physical fashion shows can still take place. The ever Bold-and-Beautiful Gucci has already opted not to follow the timetable of fashion shows! Nonetheless, the occasion has caused firms to consider new innovative ways to debut a fashion show. This year has seen a slew of memorable digital-only fashion presentations including Raf Simon and Miuccia Prada’s debut fashion show for Spring 2021.

Prada Spring RTW 2021


The main issue encountered during the internet fashion show was that it was extremely difficult to produce the same level of enthusiasm as the physical ones, but the big potential was to provide customers with the same level of access that top reviewers typically had. Isn’t that marvelous?
Luxury brands have been producing a stream of narrative videos this year with the video material being emotive and mirroring current events like Alexander McQueen’s ‘first light’ film for its Spring 2021 campaign. The video creates a more meaningful and deep connection than word and image.

Alexander McQueen’s ‘First Light’ Collection

E-commerce
There was a huge increase in product sales through the online medium in 2020, and predictions say it will remain the same in 2021. This emphasized that there is a digital shift within luxury brands. The online fashion e-commerce platforms that were used by the brands are Farfetch, Mytheresa, Yoox Net-a-porter, Zalando Matches Fashion and Moda Operandi.
You will be intrigued to know that not only e-commerce but also the emerge of different selling modes has been affected! For instance, livestreaming has become popular in the world. Instagram is now bolstering the social commerce option.
Livestreaming is seen as a viable alternative for reaching customers in lower-tier cities because they do not have access to some physical stores. However, some people believe it critical for elite companies to maintain consistency in content quality. Some procedures, such as fitting reservations or ordering online and picking up in a store, have been around for a long time and have become considerably popular.

Gucci live


Gucci has released a new app named “Gucci Live” available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The app insists on bringing the brand closer to its clients because the brand believes that only online purchasing lacks intimacy. Customers can speak with a genuine sales professional in the shop to ensure that the service quality is maintained. It is interactive, and users can use augmented reality to try on different garments and accessories. They can even create their own Gucci footwear in the app. People think it is loads of fun, and it helps to tackle the problem of closed physical businesses through new and creative solutions. Nonetheless, it is critical for brands to build the infrastructure necessary for long-term objectives. This seems to be true not only for Gucci but for all luxury labels. Customers must be enticed to interact online by fashion players finding innovative ways to thrill them.
To paraphrase, brands must adapt their tactics by rapidly determining which trends will persist after the ongoing crisis has passed. People are aiming for minimal change or a heavy reliance on specific markets/platforms. As a result, premium businesses must prioritise digital transformation. Brands must set clear, long-term objectives in 2021 while exhibiting enough flexibility, speed and agility to manage an uncertain short-term future.
Despite the fact that this notion has been debated for some time, the pandemic has accelerated the need for change. Physical stores are no longer physical stores, and online businesses are no longer simply online businesses.

Author:
Siddharth Bhardwaj
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication

Editors:
Atash Coyaji
2nd Year, B. Des. Textile Product Design
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphics:
Indrani Roy
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Design

Re-Shirt 2021: Rethink, Revamp, Restyle

“Creativity is making marvelous out of the discarded.”

Reshirt 2021 was the second event by “Design Hub – A peer space for Budding Designers,” an initiative of Amity School of Fashion Design & Technology (ASFDT), Mumbai, organized to promote aspiring designers across the country. Moreover, to promote the best ideas and implementations of fashion & design, inviting many young talents from across the country with extraordinary ideas and intellect.

Reshirt 2021 contest was all about recreating and reconstructing their old T-shirts into something entirely new. The sole aim of this exercise was to create new and trendy pieces while producing zero waste. Reshirt was a PAN India Inter-University event managed by the ASFDT, Mumbai team. It got an excellent rate of participation with over more than 40 responses. Participants showcased their creative skills by styling and remodelling their reconstructed Tees. This event had a great social media reach as well.

Various universities actively participated in this event, such as Amity University Mumbai, Amity University Noida, Amity University Chhattisgarh, Amity School of Fashion Design and Technology Uttar Pradesh, Delhi University, Maharaja SayajiRao University, Good Samaritan School, National Institute of Fashion Technology, NIFT Panchkula, Institute of home economics and more.

The winners of the Reshirt contest were-

Nishi Bhartia, who grabbed the 1st position:

Nishi Bhartia, First Position

Aarchi Arora as 1st runner-up:

Archi Arora, First Runner-up

Sreyaparna Dey and Sumedha Shettipally as 2nd runners up.

Sreyaparna Dey, Second Runner-up
Sumedha Shettipally, Second Runner-up

It was an honor for the team to have Ms. Sejal Thakur, fashion stylist at Marks and Spencer’s and Ms. Smrutiseema Nayak, Visual Merchandising Manager at H&M as the external jury members along with the professors at ASFDT who judged the contest.

The winners were given e-certificates of achievement and were featured on ASFDT’S social media handles. Meanwhile all the participants were given E-certificates for participation to acknowledge and encourage their participation.

Overall, the contest turned out to be an exciting and participative event. The team at DesignHub and ASFDT looks forward to more such exciting events in order to keep discovering hidden young hidden talents of the country.

Author:
Aditi Mandlik
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Design

Editors:
Lubaina Surury
2nd Year, B. Des. Fashion Communication
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

StyleQ’21 – 13th Edition

As we usher in the New year 2022, Amity School of Fashion Design & Technology unveils the 13th edition of its StyleQ magazine. Launched in 2016 the StyleQ magazine now in its 6th year has reached a new milestone evolved from traditional magazine format to the most interactive digital flipbook look which brings 2Dcontent to life. The whole experience is curated, designed edited, and published by the students of ASFDT, showcasing their journalistic and scholastic prowess.

This issue of StyleQ holds the Trend & Colour Forecast for the Fall/Winter 2021, a sneak-peek into happenings of ASFDT, the launch of Design Hub, and well-researched articles on innovation, acknowledging insights on fashion & other creative fields that shed light on new-age trends and technology which is germane to our theme.

Click on the link below to access the trendy, digital “flip-book” StyleQ Magazine, 13th Edition.

Styleq’ 21 – 13th edition

*Please zoom on the text when accessing the Flip-book magazine for an enhanced experience.

Regards,
Team StyleQ | Team StyleQ Digital | Team ASFDT

Webinar: Creating Correspondence within Textile Culture

“The act of sewing is a process of repair.”

What is thriving with increasing globalisation is the Textile industry. Traditionally, textiles have been an integral segment of human values and material culture.

Studying this field is an engrossing experience, and the students of Amity University, Mumbai had absolute glee witnessing this two-hour webinar on 9th of March 2021 about “Textile Industry and It’s Dynamics”. The spokesman was, the erudite, Mr. Raja M. Shanmugam, The president of Tirupur Exporters Association, Chief Mentor at NIFT – TEA Knitwear Fashion Industry and Founder of Confederation of Indian Industry.

The session answered many captivating questions like how the textile and clothing industry is influenced by the economic downswing. The session also explained the theory behind international contraction of consumption and the cost of inflationary inputs. Apart from the aforthmentioned, the key speaker also expounded the concept of sustainability and his interpretation on measures that shall make sustainability a practice for long run and initiatives to stay committed in future.

The webinar was concluded with an inquisitive discussion. Sir Shanmugam insightfully answered questions relating to the current situation of the pandemic, online shopping, the choice of natural fabric over synthetic ones and so on. The webinar was an absolute food for thought that acknowledged many subjects of the textile field that entranced even the faculty at ASFDT.

Author:
Sameeksha Mukim
1st Year, B.Des, Fashion Design

Editors:
Lubaina Surury
1st Year, B. Des, Fashion Communication
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphics:
Pravara Kanekar
1st Year, B.Des, Fashion Communication

Rent The Runway

The online ‘Rental Fashion’ market in India has been on its peak with mushrooming startups and classic brands attracting the posh. The new age fashionistas believe in renting, rather than buying expensive designer wear. Turning up at a high profile luxury event in clothes that are rented and not owned isn’t a taboo anymore rather a new normal for the elites. A hectic social life coupled with the onslaught of social media has made repeating ones clothing or accessory almost unforgivable and even social harakiri. Circumstantially it makes little sense to invest thousands of rupees on clothes that will be worn once and be relegated to a corner in the closet.

A decade ago, renting high-end luxury or designer wear was more or less unheard of. Women who didn’t want to purchase an expensive dress for a one-time event were left to borrow it from a friend. Designer gown and accessory rentals were the exclusive territory of celebrities and their stylists.

While the international market is huge for wardrobe rental services, with successful ventures like rent the Runway, Lending Luxury, Girl Meets Dress, etc, for India this trend is still taking its baby steps. Shilpa Bhatia, an erstwhile Hindi film stylist, was among the first few to tap into the potential of luxury rental as early as in 2005 when she launched ‘The Clothing Rental’ in Mumbai. The Clothing Rental thrives today with two stores in Mumbai apart from an online presence. Offering similar deals are a number of online fashion rentals, including flyrobe.com, swishlist.in, stylebank.in, liberent.com and stage3.co.

Renting outfits has become common for those once-in-a-lifetime events (wedding, mehendi, sangeet, bridal showers, and bachelorette parties) that require a level of luxury that’s not necessarily worth the long-term investment. For instance, Flyrobe which claims to have partnered with designer labels like Outhouse, Masaba Gupta, Ritu Kumar, and Shehla Khan supplies western wear on-demand with a three-hour delivery timeline and the ethnic wear on advance booking. 

The concept of luxury rental is simple: Customers can choose from designer garments, handbags, sunglasses, jewellery and other accessories they like, rent it for a couple of days at a fraction of the retail price and then return it; so easy!. The courier is then picked up from your doorstep back to where it belongs. Some companies even allow the person to own it by paying the retail price for the item.

In today’s time, when everything is for everyone, the allure of ‘no ownership’ moves beyond housing and cars bringing High-End Fashion to its dawn as one of the biggest rental industries . It assures satisfaction to the customer’s desire for a luxury product without endangering their kidneys. The new generation raves multiple experiences and desires to be fashionable and trendy, without the pressure of a permanent commitment.

Author: Vasanti Choudhary 2nd Year, B.Des. Fashion Design

Editors:
Prarthana Kapadia
4th Year, B. Des. Fashion Design
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphic Designer:
Indrani Roy
1st Year, B.Des. Fashion Design

‘Le Oversized’

Where Comfort Meets Style…

In today’s world when everybody wants comfort before anything, oversized clothing is perceptibly making its way into everyone’s closets. Oversized clothes are considered as clothes that make you look trendy while giving you enough room to breathe and be in absolute comfort. If worn in the right way, they can look just as chic and smart as fitted, well-tailored clothes.

Image source – Pinterest.in

Many designers have showcased their collection with large shirts, tunics, t-shirts and hoodies etc. The main concept of loose clothing is to be comfortable yet fashionable.
The key to stand out when wearing an oversized garment is all about ‘how you wear it.’ It is important to wear it with the right selection of pants or accessories to go with it. For
girls, they tend to give a tomboyish look with a slight hint of femininity.

Image Source – Pinterest.in

A lot of A-list celebrities, both Bollywood and Hollywood alike, like to wear loose t-shirts, oversized jackets and shirts when they make an appearance in public, that later gets slotted into street style looks, airport looks or just the regular grocery-run looks into various magazines, blogs and websites.

The combination of oversized t-shirts with cute white sneakers have consistently been in trend these past couple of years. After all, when has any perfect combination of fashion and comfort gone out of style? One can safely say, that this look will be worn by students and working professionals alike, because this classic doesn’t have an age bar.

Author:
Artha Thakur
3rd Year, B. Des. Fashion Design

Editors:
Prarthana Kapadia
4th Year, B. Des. Fashion Design
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphic Designer:
Abhirami Vishnu
3rd Year, B. Des. Textile and Product Design

The Age Of Hippie Modernism

In the mid 1960s, a never-seen-before hippie counter-culture blossomed throughout the United States, which incited both the Flower Power Movement and the revulsion of more straight laced. Floral clothing and growing beards all became part of the evolving counter-culture in the hippie era. The casual glamour laced with tribal totems has served fashion past and present.

When the Spring/Summer 2019 of Chloé collection started to be walked down the runway, it was showed the perfect hippie-like flared trousers, pareo skirts and twisted silk lariat belt that would fit in at Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival. The collection is called Hippie Modernism because the designer wanted to bring it into the city with an urban flair. The tribal-inspired jewellery was also added to complete hippie look. 

The collection reflected the souvenirs of the counterculture with its avant-garde constructs of sensuality, femininity and utopian progress. Considering the lives and art forms of free-spirited women, the garments were graced by traditional textures and styling like scarf silks, ikat and bias-cut layering. The designs were basically the evolution of a new mentality following the original Hippie culture.

Author:
Artha Thakur
3rd Year, B. Des. Fashion Design

Editors:
Prarthana Kapadia
4th Year, B. Des. Fashion Design
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphic Designer:
Rutuja Konde
4th Year, B. Des. Fashion Design

#RiseAgain

Happy World Fashion Day 2020

School of Fashion Design & Technology ay Amity University Mumbai celebrated the fashion and design industry on the World Fashion Day on the designated day; 21st August 2020.

Though this year the pandemic has altered the complexion of buying, selling, production and supply of fashion products, yet, we are privileged to be a part of an industry that rises to all occasions and situations. So aptly enough, the theme chosen by the School for this year World fashion day was #RiseAgain.

The last two times there was a shift in fashion and the way we shopped was after the first and then second world war. The current pandemic will be the third largest influence on fashion.

Some of the predictable changes that will emerge are:

  • New Shopping patterns will emerge. More brands will go on-line, e-commerce wave and live-streaming will merge making on-line shopping interactive, experiential and in real-time. At Milan Fashion week, Armani also chose to live stream his new collection
  • AI & Tech will make stores go smart and computers and Apps will replace shop-floor in-store assistants.
  • Local will rule, since imports have been hit. Local designers, brands and even tailors will be endorsed. A much-needed boost to homespun, small, medium, new and large Indian brands will happen. Indian fabrics will be sought after.
  • Luxury brands are bound to slow down on their new launches. With decrease in prices hi-street brands may become more affordable to the masses.
  • People will go back to wearing fuss-free, germ-free and durable clothes. Recycling will be fashionable. So, for new looks, mix, match and re-use will be the mantra.
  • Healthcare will beat cosmetics and wellness will be the new buzzword.

With that said, and understood we still stand by the belief that the revival of the fashion industry to its full glory will come soon. The fashion & design industry is known to be the most dynamic and agile industry, that comes together as one conglomerate to beat all crisis.

Chanel has contributed its services by moving to production of production of masks and PPE gowns. Armani is making surgical overalls. Prada is making facial covers and…… H&M is making PPE for hospitals in Europe.

India too has created a new industry worth almost 10,000 crores in the last few months. Its making approx. 4.5 lakh PPE kits/day and has become the II largest manufacturer of PPE kits.

On that happy note, I wish you all a very happy, aesthetic and happening World Fashion Day 2020.

A lot of your fashion is at home, in your wardrobes, on-line and perhaps old storages.
So, stay home, stay safe, put together aesthetically existing items (clothes & accessories) and create new looks!!!

Prof (Dr) Bhawana Chanana with Team ASFDT, Mumbai.

Editors:
Shalini Mohanty
Assistant Professor, ASFDT

Graphic Designer:
Prarthana Kapadia
4th Year, B. Des. Fashion Design