Experimenting with wearable art

Since his first year at National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), he has been designing clothes for himself and his friends. Now in his final year, Jaswant  Daranaga’s love for fabric and deigns has not only made him a known face in his college but internationally too.

His design ‘The Glamour Card’ made him won second place at 2012 Brancott Estate World of Wearable Art (WOW), world’s prominent and largest wearable art shows, held in Wellington, New Zealand this year.

“Every fashion designing student aspires to get his designs selected at WOW. Winning is nowhere in minds because selection of design itself is a big deal. To compete for an internationally acclaimed award, students send 10 designs at a time and none of them gets selected at WOW,” says Jaswant, whose one out of five designs got selected among 164 incredible designs from all across the globe. 

The garment designed by Jaswant and his associate Neil Sarjal is inspired by the game of cards. “The garment is based on the grandiosity and luxury of the game of cards.  It is made with sequins, lurex, buckram, hard net and boning. The intricate patterns define the unpredictability with every toss of sides and rich silhouette personifies lady  luck,” shares Jaswant, who created buzz with his talent in his first year by becoming a finalist for WOW in 201O. This year, it was his second WOW entry.

For talented Jaswant, this is just the beginning - to create his own mark in the industry. However, this was not his dream some years back when like other students he was confused about the direction he would take in life. Following the footsteps of his friends he opted for engineering and took admission in a city-based college.

It was not until he saw a documentary on Gianni Versace, that Jaswant decided to go for fashion designing.  “I knew I was good at something and that was drawings. I am thankful to my parents who were cooperative and allowed me to leave engineering mid-way and appear for NIFT.  I cleared the exam with a good rank which seriously boosted my confidence,” says the  21 -year old young designer.

Since his foray into designing world, Jaswant has been part of designing for films too. He was an assistant designer for Rakesh Mehta’s Life Ki to Lag Gayi and has also styled Bollywood stars like Zayed Khan, Fardeen Khan and Jackie Shroff.