Part I: The Future of Fashion Forum 2015 - Snippets from the Inaugural Session

As a fashion school, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion has always endeavored to make fashion more accessible to the aspirants. Thus, the Future of Fashion Forum was conceptualized that encourages a dialogue between the aspirants and the fashion professionals from all walks of industry. The forum is spread across various categories to cover significant aspects of the fashion and retail industry, while focusing on both creative and commercial aspects of fashion.

This one-day event in its 2nd year, took place on the 24th of January, 2015, brought together leaders in the fashion and retail industry to create a 'Think Tank'.

The event kicked off with Meghna Ghai Puri, President, Whistling Woods International, welcoming the guests while Neeta Lulla, Founder & Dean, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion, introduced the guests to the Future Of Fashion Forum. Neeta Lulla, Subhash Ghai, Founder & Chairman, Whistling Woods International; Veteran Fashion Designer Hemant Trivedi; Anjana Sharma, COO & Fashion Director of Stylista.in; actor Neha Dhupia, Siddharth Lulla, Director, Business Strategy, Whistling Woods - Neeta Lulla School of Fashion and Meghna Ghai Puri, 'Lit the Lamp', to start the event.

Inauguration was followed by interesting snippet on 'Learning Fashion', by Hemant Trivedi, where he shared his experience of teaching and mentoring Neeta Lulla. While sharing his journey and knowledge as a fashion professional, he said , 'As a Fashion Designer, Be true to yourself, Don't lose your Indian Identity'. He also mentioned that to evolve as designer 'You need to have emotion and be passionate to be a successful designer'. Inspiring the young audience and fashion aspirants, he mentioned that 'People live for 3 things : Money, Fame & Respect, I live for the third one'.

Actor, Neha Dhupia was also present at the event and shared her experience of being associated with Limeroad.com, an online shopping (e-commerce) site, which is committed to deliver dresses and accessories that are unique in terms of style, quality and reliability. Sharing snippets on her 'inspiration' and the principle she abides by when it comes to fashion, she suggested aspiring designers by saying, 'When you are designing, Keep it Simple, Stupid'. Commenting on the two very different aspect that people tend to confuse, she said that Style and Fashion are often mistaken for the same thing. She cleared the misconception by saying, 'Style has to be inheritant, it has to be you. Style lasts forever, while Fashion is fleeting. Hold on to your style.'  She wrapped up the session interestingly by suggesting that 'It shouldn't be about accumulating wealth, it should be about 'creating' something beautiful.'

Subhash Ghai brought in his insight to Fashion, by very wisely proposing that 'Fashion in its beauty is inspired from spiritualism.' Talking on the occasion, he also shared his experience of working with Neeta Lulla as a Fashion Designer, on his film, Taal. He fondly remembers Neeta Lulla's curiosity and inquisitiveness to know and understand the character and visual appeal of the movie to keep the costumes in sync.

Neeta Lulla took this beautiful opportunity to thank her esteemed mentors, Hemant Trivedi and Subhash Ghai, and shared her journey as a fashion designer with the aspiring designers as guests at the event.

An Eventful Day for Fashion Aspirants.

At Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion, we firmly believe in imparting training through fashion stalwarts in this field. For this very purpose, a Master Class on Visual Merchandising was organized for the aspirants. Gracing the stage for the Master Class was an ace in the field of Visual Merchandising and Styling, Karan Berry. He is also the name behind the brand, Karleo.

Visual Merchandising is a stream of fashion designing that involves learning how to present a store and its merchandise in a manner which will be eye catching, attracting potential customers. The master gave an opportunity to the students to learn from the best and absorb his teachings. The various components and characteristics associated with Visual Merchandising were talked about in the master class. These topics helped the students in realizing that creative and innovative ideas go a long way towards creating a visually stimulating environment in a store.     

On the basis of the knowledge and understanding the students gained from Karan Berry, they were given a task. The task entailed the creation of a Visual Merchandising showcase that was displayed across various locations throughout the college. Under the expert guidance of Karan Berry, who mentored the aspirant through the task, the project was divided into five areas of visual merchandising which are- perfume, food, women’s wear, men’s accessories and home décor. Using the knowledge gained and their own creativity, each group proudly presented their displays.   

Moreover, the fashionistas spent their past Saturday attending the Fashion Dialogue Series which was all about taking a step into the fashion industry. For the event, the founders of Karleo Fashion, Karan Berry and Leon Vaz graced the stage.

They shared their insights regarding the fashion world and spoke about the dos and don’ts of the fashion world. There was an interactive dialogue between the fashion experts Karan Berry and Leon Vaz and the aspirants. The event also held a session on Hairstyling and Makeup workshops that the attendees thoroughly enjoyed.

These events, workshops and master class are a more engaging way of learning something new. This gives the student to interact with the best of industry while giving them a larger platform to exhibit their talent.      

WWNLSF Master with Anna Romaczuk on Visual Merchandising

Anna Romaczuk, Visual Merchandiser, Only

 Visual Merchandising, to start with is the set up that a retail store has in order to display their product in a way to appeal to the buyers.

We had a lovely session with Anna Romaczuk, Visual Merchandiser of the fashion brand "Only", who shared her experience and insight on the creative and commercial aspect of visual merchandising and how it affects a brand's image, awareness and attract buyers.

Anna Romanczuk interacting with WWNLSF Students at the Masterclass

While talking about Visual Merchandising, she touched important and interesting aspect like Mannequin set-up, window display, store layout, product display, new launches of products, that a Visual Merchandiser needs to take care of.

Talking about Mannequins and Window Display, she mentioned that these are the points that attract buyers the most. Hence, these areas in the store should be decorated in an appealing way and should display the latest products, the products on the other hand should be in  sync with the demand of the time, for eg. depending on the occasion or festival that's round the corner and should definitely be in line with the trend of the season. While addressing all the real-time factors, Visual Merchandiser should be well aware of the brand's fast-moving and best-seller products to have it upfront, gaining buyer's attention and making it easily accessible.

Anna Romaczuk with WWNLSF Faculty Avneet Jotwani

India, as a fashion market is also evolving and opening up options and avenues for Visual Merchandising both as an in-store aspect and career options.

She also added that Visual Merchandising is an area, where people need to be open up to experiment with themes, feedback and analysis from professionals across segments to get a grasp of how the visual is perceived by visitors/buyers or onlookers. One need to keep experimenting with stuff to understand one's area of expertise.

It was a pleasant interactive and engaging session, where students got to learn a lot from Anna Romanczuk. Also, we were delighted to have her appreciation in terms of how our course curriculum encompass the major aspects of Visual Merchandising, thus giving students an exposure and understanding of various fields that will come handy for the aspiring designers to understand the market and operate accordingly as professionals.

Anna Romczuk with WWNLSF Students

Belinda Bawa, the Great Illustrator

Fashion illustration has been around for decades, but it is only in recent years that this profession has been receiving the importance it deserves. The job of a fashion illustrator is to work closely with a fashion designer and illustrate on paper the ideas in the designer’s mind. For this, an illustrator’s creation can be as precise and detailed as possible or as vague as they please and add as much dramatics they see fit. An aspirant pursuing this career line can opt to join a fashion house, join a particular designer or just fly solo.

Fashion illustration in India still has a long way to go, but thankfully the foundation is already set. Belinda Bawa, a leading illustrator of our time, is one of the first known illustrators. It started with the design project for the film Devdas. Neeta Lulla who was working on the costumes for the film approached Belinda to create dramatic and elaborate designs. After this there was no stopping her from charting new heights.

Though a famous fashion illustrator now, she has done and experienced a host of other things. From teaching to writing, this talented lady has done it all. Her experience includes Visual Merchandising comprising names like Burlingtons at the Taj (Mumbai), Vikram Phadnis (Design Studio). Over the years she has supervised backstage with backstage managers Vahbeez and Delnaz in over fifty fashion shows for designers like J.J. Vallaya, Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla, Neeta Lulla, Wendell Rodricks and Tarun Tahiliani among others. 

She worked briefly as a Fashion Consultant for Sheetal Departmental store. Accessory designing too falls under her profile. She designed and developed Avant Grade accessories for a collection presented in India, Dubai, UK for Vikram Phadnis, Neeta Lulla, Rohit Verma and others. She did not even leave writing; she wrote articles on fashion events and trends for a website.

Belinda’s illustration expertise was seen in films too. She did detailed costume illustration for films like Devdas, Kisna, Aisha and the list goes on. 

The illustrator even ventured into the field of teaching. She taught S.N.D.T. Women’s University as Asst. Professor to Wendell Rodericks for History of World Costume. Raheja University, N.I.F.T (National Institute of Fashion Technology), C.E.P.Z Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology, Mod Art Institute of Management along with which she conducted personalized workshop and crash courses in illustration and design. Belinda is currently a Faculty at Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion where she shares her experiences and expertise in the field of illustration with young aspirants.