Fashionable upcycling with Planet J

The Navhind Times Planet J workshop on Fashion Design and Upcycling with fashion designer Ninoshka Alvares-Delaney was held on Sunday, December 10, 2017 at the Dempo House, Panaji. The three hour workshop catered to an audience of 16 years and above. Youngster from all over the state participated some travelling from areas as far as Navelim, Benaulim, Cansaulim and other places in the south.

The session which was divided into three parts began with an introduction by Ninoshka on the elements and principles of design with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation. Emphasising the importance of the same she said, “These elements and principles are the framework on which a design is based. They are literally like the alphabets of design and if you don’t know them, you won’t know how to read a design or create one.” She then went on to explain the components which include colour, line, shape, form, texture, space, balance, emphasis, rhythm, proportion and harmony.

In the next session she spoke about upcycling of garments – what it means, why it is necessary and how one can create valuable products out of old, discarded textile. She brought in her own samples of upcycled products and collections created from reclaimed material and explained how used fabric and textile can be upcycled to create not only garments, but accessories like bags and necklaces, and home furnishings like cushion covers, curtains, rugs and quilts among other things.

The final part of the session had the audience revamp and upcycle their own old clothes that they had carried along. Participants were divided into eleven groups and each group was given a theme. In a span of an hour and half the groups were required to design and upcycle a garment and accessory based on their theme. Ninoshka went from table to table guiding the participants and demonstrating how to upcycle the clothes they had carried.

There was a flurry of activity as participants got busy putting their creativity to use. Each team came up with some brilliant designs and executed the theme beautifully. A mini fashion show was held wherein the teams displayed their garments. One member of each team was selected to display the design while the team leader explained what the theme was, how it was executed and how an old garment was transformed into something new.

The team that won the contest was team Rythym. The members upcycled an old Tee shirt by cutting it into two pieces. The upper half was further cut and altered into a woman’s top while the other part of the Tee shirt was made into a sling bag with embroidery. An old saree was cut and made into a frilled skirt. They also made accessories like bracelets, necklaces and headbands with the leftover material.

The workshop ended with Ninoshka thanking the audience. “Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. And if we reduce, reuse and recycle, we can make a small difference to our planet,” she reiterated.