A Day in the Life of a Fashion Intern

 


The smell of the metro air conditioning. A sign that the day is filled with lots of things to be done. I am a 16 year old fashion intern on my way to work. The first stop is in Prakash Nagar. It is Lata Timmuri’s NGO ‘Daaram’.

The NGO works with weavers, spinners and dyers from India. They specialize in cotton textiles. At the NGO/ shop I learn how to weave cotton and spin cotton into thread. They have a small loom with four manual heedles. Using the four heedles I experimented different types of weaves. As an outcome I learnt of tho weave in three ways. All three ways have a different look and feel to the fabric. 




Then I learn how to spin cotton on the Gandhi charkha. Spinning in the Gandhi charkha is hard as the tension of the grip on the cotton, the speed, and the hand-eye coordination have to be perfect. The shop is stocked with numerous fabrics of different colors and textures. I enjoy going through them and understanding how they are made. The next stop is in Begumpet. Gaurang Shah’s designer studio.



At Gaurangs studio I create designs for saris, lehengas and dupattas. At the moment I am designing a sari border. The process is very long and tedious. First I need to make a reference sheet consisting of the different flowers and/or birds that I would like to put in my border. Then after cross checking it with the designer I make a sample of the border on tracing paper to check the balance and positioning of the flowers or birds. 




After confirming the sample and making the required changes, I copy the final draft on piece of white paper. Then after selecting an appropriate palette of colors for the border I start to paint it with watercolors. 



After that is done it can be sent to either the embroiderers where they beautifully embroider the border using Parsi embroidery techniques or to the weavers where they will exquisitely weave it with maybe a touch of zari(gold or silver). All in all the outcome is an attractive border that will be donned on a model strutting down the ramp.

When work is done for the day I take the metro back to the Raidurgam metro station where my father will pick me up and we both start our long journey back home just to repeat this again the next day.



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