JOIN USShowcasing the designer's dream
A career in fashion chore-ography is about showcasing the designer’s dream on stage in the best possible manner. Directing and designing a high profile fashion show is like directing a blockbuster movie , presenting beautiful clothes in a creative style. It is important that the choreographer relates to the designer’s essence of style .
Fashion choreography involves:
*Commercial and professional ramp shows.
*Product launches where the client wants some drama on the stage.
*Fashion weeks, wherein the display of garments is the main focus.
A fashion choreographer normally looks into every detail of the show, from the ambience decor, stage and ramp design, lighting effects, audio visuals, music, models, make up and hairstyling to the outfits each model should wear. Fashion choreographer is basically the “show director”.
Career avenues
As this is an evolving field, there are very few institutes offering this course. Some of them are:
*Sky Management Institute - Ahmedabad
*Kaushik Ghosh Modelling School - New Delhi
*A course in fashion communication from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) also helps students to understand the nuances of this field.
Fashion choreographers need to start their career by assisting senior choreographers as there are many things to be learnt before one can do an independent show. The remuneration ranges from Rs 25,000 to Rs 3 to 5 lakh per show.
Work matrix
According to Liza Varma, a Gurgaon-based fashion choreographer, “Once the designer has explained the collection and the presentation idea to the choreographer, it is the choreographer’s job to plan and execute every step to make the show a success.”
A well-established choreo-grapher has a core team with whom he or she is comfortable working with. Mostly, the team travels with the choreographer on his shows India and abroad. New Delhi-based fashion choreographer Kaushik Ghosh says, “Fashion choreography is 10% glamour and 90% pure hard work. And it is crucial to meet deadlines, handle emergency situations and even the egos of models and designers!”
Skills and strengths
According to Yatin Gandhi, a Mumbai-based choreographer, “Fashion choreographers should know their clients’needs, be good backstage managers and have a feel for music.”
A choreographer needs to be diplomatic, calm and confident. He should also be able to solve every problem that crops up during the successful execution of the show.
Growth trajectory
Fashion choreography can be a rewarding career option if it is pursued with passion and not treated just as a profession for financial needs. Here, one gets better with each show. It is a long learning process and one has to do a lot of research on new techniques in every aspect or sphere of making the next show better than the previous one.
It is also a very hectic profe-ssion as there are times when they do back-to-back tours in different cities and hardly get to sleep. The challenges are aplenty, but the motivating factor is the joy one gets after the successful execution of the show. It is a fabulous field for creative thinkers who have a flair for communicating a fashion designer’s dream with style and elan.