It was a moment of excitement coupled with nervousness as the 52 under-graduates and four post-graduate students of Army Institute of Fashion and Design (AIFD) revealed their final collections at ‘Design Dapple 2014’ recently.

Held at MEG Auditorium, Ulsoor, the graduation ceremony-cum-fashion show was what the students had eagerly waited for throughout their college years.

The chief guest was Lt Gen Jagbir Singh and the guest of honour was Ashish Kumar, CEO of Arvind Exports. Maj Gen AK Singh and  principal HL Vijayakumar presided over the function. Certificates were presented to graduates and special awards were handed to those who excelled in specific fields.

Pooja Kakri won the award for ‘Best Outgoing Student’, Salaka Saini went home with the ‘Best Designer’ award and Ashwathy Unnikrishnan bagged the ‘Best Creation’ award.
Mahima Singh took home the prestigious ‘Chief of Army Staff All Round Best Student Rolling Trophy’.

Following these formalities, the graduating students presented the collections that they had worked on as their final-year projects. While some showcased ethnic collections with well accessorised looks, others went for classy Western outfits that oozed of panache. And it wasn’t only the models that looked good — the students too had also understandably dressed up for the occasion and were seen taking group photographs in every nook and corner.

Ashwathy Unnikrishnan, whose collection titled ‘Strutturamour’ won ‘Best Creation’, said that her collection was inspired by urban architecture. “You see a lot of curves and structures in both modern architecture and fashion. Based on this theme, I worked on a range of short dresses in the monochrome palette made in poly-cotton. People were really appreciative of the work and found it different from the usual designs seen these days,” she explained.

‘Best Designer’ Salaka Saini was equally happy about the win. “My showcase went very well and I received a lot of compliments for how different it was. My prediction for 2015 is that a lot of wooden accessories will be seen. Based on that, I made a creation with a wooden top while the skirt was made of leather. It felt really good to win the award as I put in a lot of hard work for the show,” she said.

Nitish Kumar, a second-year student and event coordinator, said that time management was tough on the day of the show.

 “There were too many students involved backstage and the biggest challenge was getting the models to change in time for the next collection. It was hectic but fun nonetheless,” he said, adding, “It was inspiring to see our seniors’ designs because in most fashion shows, the garments aren’t wearable. But here, most of the outfits could be worn even off the ramp.”