The project was about understanding a concept and then developing it further in the form of a garment collection, which was to be later showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week in the ‘Gen Next’ category for the season of Autumn-Winter 08-09.
Garments take up 80% of the space in our luggage. This causes inconvenience in carrying them, as they get crushed under pressure. Besides this, garments usually require frequent ironing and maintenance while travelling. To solve these problems, the concept of foldable garments was evolved.
The concept behind the collection was creating elegant silhouettes just by pleating. This collection of garments totally reinvented the concept of luggage as they were structured to be folded in the form of compact pleated strips that took negligible space. These garments are designed and structured in such a way that they don’t get crushed under luggage pressure and don’t require frequent ironing.
Many initial exercises were done to understand the nature of pleats through different mediums like paper, fabric, etc. Further reference and understanding were derived through research into the history of pleats, and how they were used in garments down the ages. Basic silhouettes were developed through various explorations done on paper while learning origami. Translation of these explorations in fabric helped visualize the garments.
I created 24 garments for the collection, which was named ‘The Fold.’ I also created the web site and a catalogue of the collection for buyers and the media; developed visiting cards, tags, and labels to promote the collection and the brand. Media kits and panels for the stall were developed as per requirements.
Through the project, I realized that it is the duty of a designer to understand changing lifestyles of the people, and to design products that satisfy their needs.
