Your name, age?
Saumya Sinha, 25 years.
Where are you from?
Bhilai, India.
Your occupation?
Student
Educational background?
Bachelors of Fashion Design from FDDI, Noida.
Current College?
RMIT University, Melbourne.
Official accounts to connect with you?
Instagram – saumya.sinha95
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ssinha19/
When the pandemic hit, what were you working on and how did it affect you?
At the start of the pandemic, I had just returned from India to Melbourne. My third semester classes had started. I was only able to attend face-to-face classes for a month after which government restrictions were imposed. The rest of the semester was conducted online. This experience was both new and a bit disturbing as we could not do things on the spot unlike being at University. This was the first time I was working remotely with my group mates and mentors with the only contact being through my phone and laptop.
What positive changes have you made in the past few months in your routine or yourself?
I have started to focus more on the present rather than stressing about the future. Planning my tasks for the day has been a great technique for me to focus on the things to be completed on that particular day. This lockdown has put us in our houses, but I think we can all focus on the positive aspect of being able to spend more time with our families and exploring our own interests.
What strategies are you using to keep yourself busy and creative?
Reading blogs, articles, and books. Recently I finished reading Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. A great book for young entrepreneurs like myself to read and learn the importance of pursuing our dreams. I have learnt many ideals from it which I will follow in my life. I am also trying to channel my thoughts and ideas for my clothing brand, which I want to open in the future.
What creative tasks irrespective of fashion have you been able to do this lockdown? Any hobbies you picked up?
I have been sketching a lot these days which was not possible earlier. Also, learning new skills over the internet has been a goal for me. I recently designed a ready to wear collection for one of my college assignments inspired by flowers which were painted in a watercolor effect. These sketches were developed digitally.
If you are graduating this year, how did you mold your situation of working on your final collection and thesis to the lock down?
My course expects me to develop reports and presentation pitches for the idea I have about my brand. In order to do that, we were supposed to present our ideas to industry professional on campus. The current COVID-19 situation got us to attend our classes online and therefore for our final collections, we will connect with our professors online via video chat and e-mail.
What do you think of your future career? How are you coping with that?
The future seems quite stressful in this scenario, to be honest. But I hope I am able to fulfill my dream of starting a brand. I am still exploring the idea of starting a brand here in Australia, where I am based at the moment. The market is very accepting to new brands and the mindset of people is not rigid. They want to explore more when it comes to fashion. The market here sure seems very difficult right now but I believe the situation here will stabilize soon. As I am in the final year of my studies, I still have time to develop connections for myself in the industry here. The industry is also very open to aspiring designers and entrepreneurs.
What is your opinion about fashion weeks in the future and the fashion industry?
In my opinion, the number of fashion weeks taking place in the world will decrease. Virtual fashion shows with digital models will popularize more. I also think that brands will develop less collections now. Brands and designers will now focus explicitly on producing sustainable and ethical products.
What problems do you see on a global fashion level and what solution would you like to propose?
The disposal process being used in the industry needs to be worked more on. I like how brands like H&M have started Garment Collecting initiatives. These initiatives not only help the fashion industry in taking a positive step towards a sustainable industry but also instills a thinking in the customers to be a sensitive shopper.
Another problem I think are the underpaid skilled workers at the grassroot level of our industry. These people are the backbone of our industry and we as designers need to respect and acknowledge them even more than we already do. The campaign started by the Fashion Revolution of ‘Who Made My Clothes?’ is an excellent initiative by the industry to bring these people up to the front and know about their stories and lives. This is one of the reasons I want to work first-hand with them while developing my brand so that through me I might be able to give them the exposure and recognition they deserve.
As an integral part of fashion's future, what change/s do you plan to make in yourself and your work?
Focusing on developing a business model that helps grass-root level workers and helping their work and art come up to the mainstream market. I am going to focus on investing more on brands that follow sustainability throughout their supply chain. Upcycling is another area where I believe I could explore my work into. It is also something where the industry should focus their attention to. It has a lot of potential and I have seen many brands develop entire collections based on this concept.
Lastly, what positive advice would you like to give to your fellow fashion lovers?
The industry for us very unstable at the moment but this also gives us designers and creators the opportunity to come up with new ideas for the market. This uncertain time will pass too, and the industry will flourish again. All we need to do is keep our hopes intact and focus on achieving our goals. Maintaining a journal where I keep my ideas written has really helped me over the years through college and in my work. I take it everywhere so that all my ideas are jotted in one place and I can go back to them whenever I want to. I would recommend you all to not lose hope, keep the ideas flowing and support each other as much as we can.
