This is what I graduate with.....

I recently graduated as a fashion designer. As our final project, we had to develop a collection from scratch.

Its been a while since the collection was showcased in the graduation show held in my college, and although its been 6 months working on this project, I'm still a little obsessed with it!

Swadeshi – meaning of one’s own country

Swadeshi was a movement introduced by Mahatma Gandhi which started in 1905 and continued till 1908. It was a part of our freedom struggle and encouraged the masses to use homemade produce rather than British goods.

This also included the use of homemade cloth which gave rise to ‘Khadi’.

'Khadi' is a fabric that is hand spun and hand woven.

Now, without further ado, let me walk you through the working of the project and the final collection.

The main idea was to promote the use of ‘Khadi’ as a part of the corporate wear for Indian women.

As the fabric is expensive due to its handmade attributes, the collection was aimed at a higher level of corporate professionals who need to ‘dress to impress’.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhbZUrIZwFs&w=425&h=349]

A short video about the whole concept

As fashion students, we generally sketch a version of the collection as we see it in our head before we start off with actually constructing it.

This however was done after the completion of the collection.

Now, let’s move on to the final outfits.

The first outfit – Silk khadi Nehru jacket with a lining of pure khadi and hand embroidery on the cuffs and the lapel, worn with hand printed khadi churidar.

Khadi kurta with embroidery between tucks and gathered sleeves; with Khadi silk cropped jacket with Nehru collar; worn with straight fit Khadi pants

Khadi silk shirt kurta with Nehru collar and hand embroidery around the neckline, worn with straight fit, hand printed Khadi pants.

Khadi silk jacket with Nehru collar, lined with hand printed khadi, worn with khadi wool draped skirt.

Khadi shirt with Nehru collar and bishop sleeves with hand embroidery on the cuffs, khadi silk vest lined with hand printed khadi worn with khadi wool Jodhpuri inspired pleated trouser.

Khadi flared kurta with Nehru collar and hand embroidery on empire line, worn with a khadi churidar and khadi muslin jacket hand embroidered on the sleeves.

Each look has been created by teaming up 2 or more pieces to create a corporate look, however, these can alternatively be worn with basic wardrobe pieces to create different looks.

[gigya src="http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" menu="false" style="width:420px;height:297px" flashvars="mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&showFlipBtn=true&documentId=110717102808-56fc162442a64d17a2c8dbd57d333508&docName=swadeshi_lookbook&username=uparnadas89&loadingInfoText=Swadeshi%20Look%20Book&et=1310909781455&er=85"]

This look book gives an idea of how the separates can be worn differently.

Hope everyone likes it!

EDIT : Credit for images :

www.indiangreattradition.blogspot.com

www.papatoto.com

www.gandhiserve.org

Credit for movie sources:

www.gandhiserve.org

Clip from Ben Kingsley's Gandhi(1982)

Music : Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera(Instrumental) from the movie Swades(2004)

Fashion Illustration template by : www.designersnexus.com