Shilpi Chowdary

Prof. Shilpi Chowdhary - a name sought after in the Bangalore Fashion Industry for her ideas and themes for various brand takings. She has carved a niche for herself with her fashion presentation which are always different from the usual. Her avante garde (non- wearable, creative) collection always carries a social theme, and an awareness that she wants to project through her fashion shows.

Shipi, is not only about fashion, she's also into creative fashion designs, choreography, mental grooming of models, styling, make-up, art direction for ad films, teaching (she is the HEAD OF Department of history, in a reputed college in Bangalore), writing books on history and historical research based on fashion trends. Her creations can be seen in jute, bamboo, dry flowers, sea grass and banana fiber (to showcase a theme on eco- savvy fashion presentation). With synthetic leather and Nylon fur, she conveyed the message of treating animals with compassion. She also came up with the idea of taking technology to the rural and tribal India as an alternative vocation in case of crop failure. She presented this theme in a pageant called Miss. Hi-Tech Bangalore 2003.

The pageant consisted of employees of all the major multinational corporate houses of Bangalore. To pay tribute to the million dollar paper industry Shilpi created apparels out of handmade paper and called it the, Papyrus Collection. Through this, she also credited ancient Egyptians. The sequenced showcased Egyptian Culture of the, Pharaohs. Her bridal collection Vivaha showcased a palanquin and a live horse as a show stopper. Her most passionate show consisted of the Mantra Collection which was based on human rights and spirituality. The Mantra Collection was organized for the prison inmates of Cherlapalli Prison in Hyderabad, one of the most advanced and talked about prisons' in India!!

She has had the opportunity to work with celebrities like Salman Khan, Bipasha Basu. Sudesh Bhonsle, Channel V'S AASMA, Usha Uthup and the STYLE CHECK show of MTV. She has also organized in-house shows for renowned corporate houses… Shilpi is right now working on themes like "Queen of Spices" and is researching on the style of apparels of the Wodeyars of Mysore.

Shipi believes that the fashion industry is not only the prerogative of the rich; fashion should be accessible to all who want to pursue there own style statement. She says, "A well groomed person can handle problems of life with confidence!"

Source: Vijay Times, BVT LifeStyle - 4.
Copyright © 2005 Puja Goyal.