From handlooms and lace to protest fashion, FDDI Hyderabad students show their mettle

Protest fashion to collaborations with artisans of Karwan and Narsapur, students showcased significant collections at the recent graduation show of FDDI Hyderabad 

Graduation shows at fashion schools are an indication of the unbridled creative instincts of budding designers. Sans filters that come in later for commercial viability, they showcase the skills of these designers who are unafraid to embrace their rebellious streak. The recent graduation show of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI), Hyderabad, had students from the 2019 batch showcasing 27 different collections. 

Among them, a few stood out in their partnerships with craftspeople and weaver clusters and also by making a statement in the form of protest fashion.

A collection titled Insane Space paid tribute to a Class X student in New Delhi who was a victim of bullying in mid-2022. According to news reports, the student was teased and assaulted by his classmates for his fashion choices. The silhouettes displayed as part of Insane Space do not fit into the conventional norm. In earthy beiges, browns and whites, the separates varied from anti-fit trousers to cold-shoulder tops with frilled collars, embroidered pocket flaps on trousers to tasselled jute strands on jackets. This collection designed by Aman Ashok, Kumari Ayushi, Riya Pratap and Pranjal Arora was awarded the Best Creative Design Collection of the year. “We used raw jute for our collection to signify the rawness of nature and white as a symbol of peace,” says Aman Ashok. The collection was intended to emphasise the need to accept people as they are.

Another group of students collaborated with handloom weavers in Karwan on the outskirts of Hyderabad, to use traditional textiles in designing contemporary outfits. “We wanted a collection that would blend the beauty of latticework and intricate handloom weaves,” says Abhishek Yadav, on behalf of the team that spent several hours interacting with the weavers and understanding their weaving practices, yarns and textures. In their collection named Jaal, the latticework appears on the sleeves or pockets while some of the outfits stand out for their sharp but exaggerated shoulders. The students — Abhishek, Prabhat Kumar, Kumari Shwetangi and Ankit Kumar — plan to sell the outfits and share the entire proceeds with the weavers.

Planning ahead for winter, when crochet is predicted to be one of the trends, student designers Deekshika, Vakshika, Pawan and Shamili collaborated with nearly 50 artisans who specialise in lacework in Narsapur. The students state that their collection named Fagelbo (denoting a bird in the nest) tries to apply principles of the construction of a nest to crochet. “We blended the technique of nest weaving with the art of crochet. The beak of a bird serves as a hook, while the twigs, grass and other materials used to build the nest are replaced by yarns of various colours and textures,” says Deekshika. The collection was designed with the help of artisans from the Narsapuram Mandavaripeta cluster over 25 days.

Of the 27 collections presented at FDDI, eight were awarded in different categories by the jury.