It sure took plenty of grit and determination for Rashi Kapoor to get herself an internship she thought she deserved. Despite attempts from the brand to dissuade her, she didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer! Hailing from Punjab, this 21-year-old fashion designing student of Vogue Institute came to Bangalore to accomplish her dream of making a mark in the world of clothes and apparel designing.

“When I was interviewed by Pantaloons for a two-month internship early this year, they initially told me that they picked students only from a specific institute and not from Vogue. Despite being displeased about that, I told them that they wouldn’t know the calibre of students from other institutes if they didn’t give them a chance. And that did the trick! I bagged the internship,” says Rashi.

And the experience, she says, was phenomenal. “Being in a completely professional atmosphere, I was treated like one of them. I had to work as much and more, contribute equally to ideas and falter less. It was tough but I got an opportunity to put my skill to good use,” says Rashi who dabbles in other forms of art as well with painting topping her list.

During her stint with Pantaloons, Rashi was given a project to design plus-size Indian ethnic clothing for women and at the end of her internship, the brand liked what she had done with the designs, “They felt my creations were worth being part of their collection and decided to launch it in stores as part of the May collection. So I am looking forward to that,” says Rashi.

Becoming an entrepreneur is what Rashi ultimately plans on achieving. “Someday I hope to set up my own brand of designs but until then, I am looking forward to working with big names in the industry,” she says adding that she has been offered a position with Pantaloons soon after her course.

Another achiever

Yet another student from this institute has proven to be quite an achiever with her jewellery design being marketed under a big brand. Kanchan Kottu from Andhra Pradesh fought against all odds to take up the four-month jewellery design course at Vogue. “My family was reluctant to send me but I had to put my foot down and took up a short term course,” she says.

Kanchan gave in her application for a contest that required every entrant to create a cocktail jewellery design with very minimal use of jewels. “On paper, I drew over 30 designs and had to bring it down to one that I thought was the best. And that design, in white gold and embellished with diamonds, got me the award that included a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a place in the D’dmas collection as my design,” says an ecstatic Kanchan.
One would think Kanchan’s next move would be to enter mainstream designing but this 25-year-old says her family has other plans. “Marriage is on the cards and maybe I will set up something of my own sometime in the  future.”