For my diploma project, I had the great opportunity to work with one of India’s leading fashion designers, Ashish N Soni. I was involved with the Spring Summer 2007 collection as well as the Autumn Winter 2007 collection. The brief for the project was to develop prints, surface textures, embroidery and silhouettes for the collection.

The inspiration for the collection was the cultural effervescence of Vienna during the late 20th century. This dynamic capital witnessed the decisive moments of the birth of Modernism by secessionist artists such as Gustave Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser and Oskar Kokoschka. These artists eschewed bourgeois values and redefined the traditional genres of portrait, landscape and allegory for a whole new aesthetic.

The collection revelled in the stylistic simplification, rigorous composition and the autonomy of form and colour epitomized by these artists. Their palettes inspire with hues of peach pink, berries, jades, amber, gold and brown with an eclectic mix of intricate laces and detailed embroidery with appliqués of gold accents. Detailing with unusual tucking and cowl pleating is set off by ancient gara embroidery, forming the backbone of the collection. Broderie anglaise, both white and greys come together in blouson skirts as well in unusual blouses, dresses and boleros.

I was also involved with and in-charge of Soni’s domestic clientele that would mainly deal with wedding trousseaus for men and women. Eventually, the collection was showcased at the Olympus New York Fashion Week 2007 and was very well received.