Straight from the runway

Though Saturday evenings are meant to be a party night, the auditorium at NIFT, Taramani, was brimming with fashion designers and students who took the evening to the next step. As models sashayed down the ramp, a panel of judges carefully assessed the clothes to mark the best one. The occasion — celebrate the ‘Vibes 360 Degree’, a day-long annual gala event of Dream Zone School of Creative Studies that trains students in fashion, graphic design, interiors and animation.Over 35 master diploma holders in fashion designing from all four branches in Chennai and Bangalore showcased their creations under different themes.Popular fashion choreographer Karun Raman choreographed the fashion show.Taufiqa Fathima and G Mahitha from Mylapore zone won prizes under Precious Stone and Jewels of Sea category, respectively, while Jahnavi Naidu from Anna Nagar zone bagged the Ethnic Incarnation award.Praveena of Ambattur zone won under After 5 Attire category, while Priyanka Patil, Kumudha and Niranjan, all from Bangalore, took home awards under Rose theme. Winners were given Rs 10,000 cash prize by K Selvan, MD, CADD Centre.K Vivek, country head, Dream Zone, said that the one-year diploma course culminates with a fashion show where students will be exposed to the industry. “They will know how the fashion industry works and its requirements and demands,” he said. This is the fourth annual event of Dream Zone that is happening for the second time in the city.About 40 students from eight different institutions including engineering, arts and science and polytechnic colleges participated in a competition under the party wear category and GSS Jain College of Women won the title. The event also marked July 19 be declared as World Designers’ Day.The panel of judges included Vandana, director of Sri Palsani Jewels, Sunil, distribution manager, Sathyam Cinemas, RJ Senthil, Radio Mirchi, Abitha, academic head of INIFD.VJ Paloma hosted the event, while celebrity designers like Sidney Sladen, Satkrit Krishna and actors Aadith and Sri lakshmi and TV personality Sivakarthikeyan graced the occasion.The evening was also entertained by the Bangalorebased Beat Gurus, a music troupe with African instruments that perked up the gathering with their drumming skills.