Today we are starting a new series on our official blog as an initiative of featuring prominent alumni’s of Pearl Academy. The idea behind this series is to bring few industry insights & tips for our current & aspiring students. 

This post is a part of our #IamPearl drive, which is a celebration of innovative thinking, originality and exuberance unleashed by Pearlites in diverse fields ranging from fashion, communication, design to management. To start with, today we are featuring Vidhi Chawla, Partner, Citrus by Vidhi and Vartika, Batch 2010, School of Fashion Designing @ Pearl Academy.

1. How did you become interested in studying Fashion (Design)?
I was born as a creative child. From the very beginning, I always got fascinated and attracted to colours, patterns & shapes. As I grew up, I started building an affinity towards clothes and eventually fabrics was something that interested me. I was keen to know how to design and execute the design to create a final product. So, that’s when I decided that I wanted to take the plunge of not aspiring to study the run-of-the-mill course but pursue fashion designing course from Pearl Academy.

2. What is about fashion that you love?
The thing that I love about fashion, is the fact that it is constantly changing and evolving. There is no right or wrong in fashion. Fashion is just a medium of expression, or reflection, of a person’s creativity that gets appreciated by some and criticised by others. What is in vogue today, might not be relevant in the fashion space six months down the line, and what was relevant 30 years ago might just become the trend today. Thus, I love the fact that School of Fashion is always unfolding newer or older patterns and aspiring millions to do so in the same sense.

3. How important is it for a fashion designer to have a fashion course-related degree?
It is extremely important for an aspiring fashion designer to study a fashion design-related course as being creative and knowing how to design on paper is one thing but how to go about executing it is another. Also, turning your passion or liking into a successful business model can only be done with the help of professional fashion course. Not only does a fashion-related course help you shape up as a creative person, but it also helps you understand the business side of it. The knowledge and polishing which you can get after a degree is of utmost valuable to the aspiring students.

4. How did working with mentors at Pearl Academy impact your creativity and thought process?
All my mentors impacted me somehow or the other. The faculty and mentors constantly pushed and guided me to explore a part of my creative thinking that I didn’t know I could bring out. This school of fashion designing gave me the confidence as a designer to explore more, challenge myself to think out of the box and in the process, help me excel and perfect my design process. Besides, the industry exposure that one gets at Pearl Academy also helps in the overall grooming of a fashion design student. And the academy also brings eminent speakers from the industry to hold interactive workshops that help students to make get familiar with professional work and environment of the industries.

You can also assist us in this initiative by a) sharing this post with existing students or b) recommending few alumni’s we should feature next or c) by writing to us directly at iampearl@pearlacademy.com