THE FINE ART OF FASHION DRAPING – FROM CONCEPT TO CREATION

The students from Diploma in Fashion Design, June, July B & C, Batch 2019, had put up a draping display on 23^rd August 2019, under the guidance of their faculty, Ms. Pavithra Basilica. The purpose of the draping module, is to enable the students of fashion designing to get acquainted with creating three dimensional designs, fabric manipulation, darts, measuring body forms etc. without a paper pattern cutting. Draping is usually done directly on a mannequin as a guide, to recreate a design created by the designer.

The objective of conducting a draping module, is to help students get a visual medium, to understand the pattern of an outfit and make any changes to the design based on their observations. Draping is usually created with a muslin cloth, rather than the final fabric for the outfit, as it is cheap and easy to manipulate along with creating multiple variations.

Inorder to test, if the students had understood the module well, they were asked to work on two different concepts; one which was provided by the faculty – zero waste concept; wherein the students were asked to create a look without any pre-decided design. The idea of zero waste was to let students create a design, without causing any wastage. For the second concept, the students were given liberty to work on their own ideas and explore various looks. Since, this was the first module for the students, it was imperative for them to understand the way a garment fits and the design coming to life.

The students were at their creative best and showcased various draping techniques and created interesting silhouettes. Their designs were based on different themes from beach wear, experimental looks, ready-to-wear avante garde and wedding outfits to Egypt inspired looks. Exaggerated bows and flowers, ruffles, pleats, collared necks, long trails, asymmetrical gowns, checkered tops inspired by chess, kalasaris a distinctive long linen dress worn by ancient Egyptian women etc. were some of the details found on the garment drapes created by the students.