SAIIER 2016:Lilith Fashion School 2016 Graduating Show

ESL welcome group for Newcomer children		Measuring Wholesome Progress
Lilith Fashion School 2016 Graduating Show

On Jan 23, 2016, Entity::Lilith Fashion School presented the final works of all students that had completed the school’s three-year Fashion Design program, in a 60-minute, live, on-stage multimedia fashion & theatre performance. Due to high demand for tickets, the event was performed twice on the performance day, at 6.00pm and at 8.00pm. The event consisted of an audiovisual performance in Bharat Nivas, featuring models wearing the final garment collections designed and created by the school’s graduating students for the show.

The activity was an output of the school’s Fashion Communications Department and was designed to encourage the graduating students to and create and produce an high-quality, public presentation of their work.

The activity aimed to encourage the students to:

a) design and create a thematic fashion garment range to deadline; and

b) design and create an event that presented their range for public viewing.

The students began concept and design work on the show garments 12 months before the performance date and began concept and design work on the performance six months before the performance date.

The overarching concept that informed the work was 'architecture', and specifically within this, the architecture of the Taj Mahal and the work of Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi. Informed by this conceptual field, aided and guided by the School’s Communications Department, the students assembled a series of dynamic audio-synched montages that were projected on stage-mounted projection surfaces to contextualise and reinforce the thematic content of the students’ work. The montages were assembled and synchronised so as to simultaneously project the architectural element/s that inspired the on-stage garment as the model wearing the garment appeared in stage.

The public performance was the culminating product of a field of study created and conducted from within the Auroville community, made available to all members of the community and their guests. An estimated 800 audience members attended the two performances. The performance itself represented the collaboration of various fields of expertise from within the community including lighting design, video mapping and projection work, theatre and stage work, choreography, original musical composition, fashion design, tailoring skills and garment construction.

The project was a learning experience for staff and students alike. Many aspects of the show were new to all involved and presented some steep learning curves. As a result of this process, the project, rather than assembling a list of the impossible, if anything, opened doorways to entirely new levels of performance and event.