Your name, age?
Shrvistha; 24years
Where are you from?
Dubai currently but otherwise India (Kanpur)
Your occupation?
Technical Fashion Designer
Educational background?
College – FDDI Noida (Bachelor of Design in Fashion Design)
Current Company?
Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group LLC; I work for their brand called “Nayomi”. Nayomi is a Lingerie, Nightwear and Lounge-wear brand. Nayomi caters to GCC region and expanding their business to India (Shopper’s Stop).
If working/interning, what is your position and what tasks do you do?
Working as a Technical Fashion Designer and I am the youngest member of the team.
I do the nightwear and fleece category and I ensure the product development happens smoothly. I take the handover from the designers for my categories and finalize the tech packs to be shared to the supplier. The ready garments are evaluated by me in all technical aspects (including lab dip, strike off, trims and fitting). My task is to get a product from virtual platform to reality.
Official accounts to connect with you?
Email: shrvistha.shukla@kojamjoom.com
When the pandemic hit, what were you working on and how did it affect you?
When this pandemic hit here in Dubai work from home was given from last week of March and I was working on some 1st fits and PP samples. There were lab dips and strike off for approval which were being shared on mails. For giving color approval you need to see it in the light box, but things were done virtually now. For fit approval of a garment instead of fitting on our model we were looking at the dummy fit picture shared by the supplier.
Well it was bit tedious and slow process initially but with time timelines were met.
What positive changes have you made in the past few months in your routine or yourself?
The positive changes on a personal level that I have made is cooking and eating every meal fresh. Have also started to foster a rescue dog here in Dubai.
What strategies are you using to keep yourself busy and creative? What creative tasks irrespective of fashion have you been able to do this lock down? any hobbies you picked up?
The office hours are the same and due to work from home you really do not tend to stick to the clock. So, the spare time goes in doing easy recipes and cooking, cleaning the house. The creative tasks irrespective of fashion I did during this work from home are I grew my own herbs from the scratch (which really turned out good, though it was only for fun), sketching and the most life changing thing was fostering a dog.
If you are graduating this year, how did you mold your situation of working on your final collection and thesis to the lock down?
This time when you are seeing the changes around you based on environment, economy and health etc. I would go for sustainable and minimalist living.
My final collection could be something about reusing the old materials and utilizing the things I have at home so that the design element is true to oneself. This pandemic has taught us to give ourselves the most important ‘Me’ time which we ignore to give ourselves. This Me time can be used to explore a lot of opportunities and research on things that one was never aware of or had time to do. Awaken the inner artist from the core and make things which make a difference and are authentically your own style and designs.
What do you think of your future career? How are you coping with that?
I would like to continue with my current job as I am doing nightwear category but love to learn lingerie as well. I am enjoying at my current workplace and learning how different each fashion market is from the other countries fashion market.
What is your opinion about fashion weeks in the future and the fashion industry?
Fashion industry should start working on the concept of recycle and reuse permanently. We do not realize but fast fashion brands are becoming a big danger as climate change. We need a refreshing planet to survive and not a fake refreshment of our wardrobes every month.
We have started to even witness virtual fashion weeks and shows which can open a lot of opportunities for different sector and save on a lot of resources which go wasted.
What problems do you see on a global fashion level and what solution would you like to propose?
On a global fashion level, the problem is too much produce and not optimum utilization of resources. We as consumers also do not realize our need and do impulsive buying of garments. In the society there is so much of competition regarding being the most fashionable and being up to date that we ignore our old stocks and stick to new. There is so much of waste from garment industries annually that is like 92 million tons, which is more than toxic e-waste.
Let us fix this by promoting consumer recycling of garments and textiles – from garment collection points, textile recycling directions, fashion exchanges and up cycling programs. Create from the waste and make less fashion launches to control the outputs and wastage. Sticking to natural fibers.
As an integral part of fashion's future, what change/s do you plan to make in yourself and your work?
On a personal level I have already switched to a minimalist approach and restricted my wardrobe. With the help of styling you can use your old stuff in a combination with other things to create a trendy look. In terms of my work I have started to be lenient towards my supplier and proceed with minimum reworks to save on time and resources
Lastly, what positive advice would you like to give to your fellow fashion lovers?
My advice to fellow fashion lovers would be to reuse and work on sustainable fashion as it has a lot of scope and there are so many different sectors, textiles and developments to work on. The concept of reuse and recycle in the garment industry can have a great dimension all together. Let us stand together in this and create a better and eco-friendly fashion industry where nature and humans are in harmony.
With patience, passion and practice one can achieve it all and keep on dreaming so that you can turn it into the reality and bring changes. I want everyone to take responsibility at self-levels so that the change is evident and with time in hand everything falls in place in a great way.
