by Shanto | Oct 28, 2021 | Fashionnovation events |
On September 26, 2021, Fashionnovation arranged a session with Ms. Umme Hani Barsha, an ex-student of BUTEX batch-38 and also Adjunct faculty of Department of Textile Fashion & Design (TFD) of Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) who is currently studying MS in Consumer & Design Science, majoring in Design and Applied Arts at Auburn University. She is our first guest in “Fashionnovation Your Mentor Talks.” She is one of the dearest mentor and well-wisher of Fashionnovation and she supported the platform from the beginning of its journey, right from 7 July 2018.
In that session, our discussion areas were higher studies in fashion, building up and honing skills related to fashion and how to enjoy life to the fullest-valuing each and every experience we gather. In the session, BUTEX 43, 44, 45 & 46th batch joined spontaneously and all credits of managing & directing the session goes to the Founder & President Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba.
Our guest- Ms. Barsha started the session by stating the most valuable advices of her Professor which are- Always ask questions! Because in graduation life, whoever is curious to know more, he/she will be more successful in his/her life.
Fashion design higher study guidelines:
Ms. Barsha then guided us about higher studies. If a student wants to pursue his higher education in Europe, then the student must have an excellent portfolio. European Universities demand more practical knowledge in the design sector that can be shown through portfolios. Students who are interested in studying in the U.S.A, mostly need to take GRE. In many institutions, they demand good verbal scores on GRE. A few institutions waived GRE recently also. In the USA, very few universities offer textile engineering degrees directly. One of them is North Carolina State University. Students may look at other departments like dept. of Material Science (students from the dept of Fabric & Yarn engineering), dept. of Chemical engineering (students from the dept of Wet Process Engineers & Dyes and Chemical engineering), dept. of Industrial engineering. Most of the institutions offer graduate degrees in Apparel Merchandising and Apparel Designing or Fashion Designing under the department of Consumer and Design Sciences or Agriculture.
Then if you want to go to Germany, fashion design students may face some challenges. Usually, there are no tuition fees for most of the courses but in fashion design as well as other art-based subjects such as architecture, and photography, students are required to pay tuition fees. Few colleges have no tuition fees but they teach in the German language instead of English. This is the scenario for many other European universities like Italy, France, and the Netherlands. If they know their language, then they can apply for Dutch and French scholarships respectively. Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Denmark also have textile-related universities as well as they offer graduate degrees in fashion. ArtEZ from the Netherlands offers a master’s in fashion in English, and they have scholarships. In New Zealand, you can get a government scholarship in the design sector from Auckland University. For applying in Denmark, one must complete the first level of their language. In Japan, there is a great fashion design school named Bunka Fashion College which ranks in the top 20 in the world. In Hong Kong Polytechnic, there are mainly PAD courses but you can also go through your graduate level here.
Then if you want to go with Australia or Canada, it will be suitable if you can go on a fully funded scholarship. Pertinently, it must be included that there is only one university in Canada named Ryerson that offers a graduate degree in fashion design. The University of Toronto, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Alberta offer textile-related subjects like material science and other degrees. In Australia, RMIT offers a graduate degree in fashion design as well as textile engineering. There is a scholarship for women but that requires two years of working experience.
You will be happy to know that there was a special guest in our session whose name is Mr. Asef Amer Priyo who is also our BUTEXian senior from the same batch of Ms. Barsha. And he is now working in Decathlon Sports Bangadesh, having working experience of 4.5 years in the industry. He advised to enrich English communication skill, presentation skill and learn Microsoft Excel & Powerpoint from undergraduate level. He clarified about the job sectors of Textile Fashion Design as well as Textile Engineering. He said actually one will get a job or not it totally depends on the performance at the interview board and how much your CV is enriched. Also you must have a very strong portfolio. And at the interview board, you must know what you say and know what you know.
Then again Ms. Barsha said a fashion designer must have knowledge about the fabric, its drapability, texture, etc besides art and design. Because fabric, stitches, pattern-these all are strongly connected with fashion.
When one of the participants of that session asked about the importance of CGPA in higher studies, Ms. Barsha replied that a high CGPA is not a must for applying for foreign scholarships. But if you want a fully funded scholarship and a good subject as per your choice then you will be much benefited if you have a high CGPA. But don’t be upset if it’s by chance low because you can cover it up with other facts like having a great portfolio as well as achieving high scores in speaking & writing on IELTS and GRE scores.
Mr. Asef Amer Priyo was sharing his vauable experience with the audience.
Is having a published research paper important for higher studies?
Another question came from the participants about the importance of research papers. Madam replied that actually on the master’s level, teachers of foreign universities do not really expect research papers from the students. Students may have a review paper which is helpful also. But one should have a clear knowledge of their research interests. She again mentioned having a strong portfolio always helps. She referred to a YouTube channel named Zoe Hong to enrich your portfolio. She also suggested a site named issuu.com see many kinds of portfolios there.
Ms. Barsha said that during her application for MS, she categorized the ranking of the university where she applied and research interests and if the university provides funds or not. Again another student asked her about what can the student do with fashion degrees. Madam replied there are fashion photography, visual merchandising, fashion merchandising, sourcing sector & designing sectors. Last, of all, she stressed upon especially for fashion design students to learn Adobe software like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, etc.
At last our special guest Mr. Asef gave us some life hacks. He said,”Forget about being disheartened. No knowledge is small, no knowledge is short! So if you have leisure, it’s better to learn something new. Always use your time efficiently.” Then Barsha madam suggested, “Obviously do work but enjoy your life to the fullest in your undergrad!”
It was really an amazing session! We learnt a lot from Ms. Barsha & Mr. Asef. We are expressing our gratitude to them and the organizer of this session, Mr. Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba. Hope that we will get more sessions like this & will be able to learn a lot!
Nashita Ahmed
Dept.Environmental Science & Engineering,
Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX)
ID: 2020-1-10-041
You can also read our article about Auburn University’s AMDA, their activities and goals!
Auburn University’s AMDA, Their Activities & Goals
You might also be interested to read about National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Hyderabad, A Heaven for The Fashion Learners
by Shanto | May 20, 2021 | Academic |
Fast fashion vs slow fashion is like yin and yang in the arena of fashion world. Though the terms are completely opposite, there is a need of sensing their difference and concretely know which means what- fast fashion vs slow fashion-what are the differences, fast fashion and slow fashion brands, which fashion to choose when, etc.
What comes to your mind when someone says fast fashion vs. slow fashion?
On the surface, fast and slow fashion seem pretty straightforward, but in reality, they can both be complex within the realm of sustainable fashion. Today we will cater you a case study on fast fashion vs slow fashion where you will find the differences and a comparative study to ponder on.
[Attention! Read the full article. There is a fun quiz to check your knowledge about fast fashion vs slow fashion]
According to Google Trends, the highest interest in this topic was in April 2009 and the second highest interest is on October 2021.
What is fast fashion?
Fast Fashion is the process of imitating trends and styles from the big-name designers on the runway which is most of the time lower quality, cheap priced and not handmade. Manufacturers mass-produce the garments at lightning speed to beat the competition and keep up with customer expectations. Since the Clothing is produced quickly and cheaply, hence we term it as fast fashion.
Fast fashion examples:
H&M, Zara, etc. retailing brands’ mass produced t-shirts, pants, etc.
Fast fashion vs Slow fashion brands:
Fast fashion and slow fashion brands also have differences according to their design, production, selling and operating criteria which enable us to do Fast fashion vs slow fashion brands comparison.
A list of fast fashion brands:
Interest in the ‘Fast fashion’ topic according to Google Trends. Source: Screenshot taken from Google Trends.
What is Slow Fashion?
Slow fashion is about conscious shopping and wearing clothing with sustainability in mind. It is about designing, creating, and buying clothing that last a long time. Here quality matters over quantity and since the process takes place slowly, we term it as slow fashion.
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Dhakai Muslin, an example of slow fashion
Slow fashion examples:
Handmade classical products like Jamdani, Dhakai Muslin, Nakshi kantha, etc. Moreover vintage and second hand clothes are also a part of slow fashion.
Slow fashion history:
The term ‘slow fashion’ is not so old. In fact, this term emerged in the year 2007 when journalist Kate Fletcher, a fashion and sustainability pioneer, coined the word “slow fashion” in an article published in the British publication-The Ecologist.
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The photo of Kate Fletcher who coined the term ‘slow fashion’. Her name is now attached with the history of slow fashion.
Actually, the concept of slow fashion is inspired from the Slow Food Movement founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 which links pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility.
After her coining out this term, it became a world trend and talk of the fashion world.
Is slow fashion more sustainable than fast fashion?
Slow fashion promotes a slower, steady and more sustainable approach as it is hand-made with sustainable raw materials like lotus, banana, orange fiber and promotes the use of vintage or second hand clothes, upcycling old clothing materials. It decreases carbon footprint and takes care of the 3Ps of sustainability- People, planet and profit.
Comparing the benefits of slow fashion and fast fashion
- Slow fashion reduces the consumption of resources and the amount of wasteland people can wear for a long time because they are made up of durable materials but is not cost efficient.
- Fast fashion quickly responds to rapidly-changing fashion trends and consumer tastes.It carries high-end designs to the masses at affordable price ranges.
Fast fashion vs slow fashion Google Trends. The interest and talk of fast fashion was always more than slow fashion from the beginning. Source: Google Trends.
Let’s compare the problems faced
- In Slow fashion small quantities are produced at low speed and hence are not able to compete with the economy of scale strategy. And generally, the products are more expensive than the commodities.
- Due to the greater manufacturing speed, the factories are likely to neglect the working conditions. The low quality and low pricing of the products results in the increase of fashion waste
Comparing the production schedules
Slow fashion has 2-3 cycles per annum whereas fast fashion has approx. 50+ cycles per annum. We can clearly see the production scale of fast fashion is near 25 times of the slow fashion !!!
Comparing the fashion sales
We can see the graph of slow fashion is very low at the beginning, but gradually the graph of slow fashion can be seen increasing, which means slowly people are understanding the importance of slow fashion. Though the graph of fast fashion is increasing rapidly because people always prefer cheaper prices over quality clothing.
Fast fashion vs slow fashion in India (USD Million).
Conclusion
After looking at the facts & surveys we can say that:
- Fast fashion creates a lot of wastage and hence is quite harmful to the environment hence slow fashion should be promoted more in order to maintain sustainability
- But when looking at the prices fast fashion is more preferable due to it’s cheaper prices.
But in the end, it depends on what the customer wants and what he prefers. It has to be either quality products/cheaper prices.
Nandini Kapu
Student at NIFT- National Institute of Fashion Technology
(NB. This article was written by Nandini Kapu. It has been updated and will be updated by Fashionnovation whenever we find new relevant information to make it rich so that the information best serves you. So, stay with Fashionnovation!)
You can also read another of our premium article on Fashion in the 21st century here!
Fashion in the 21st Century
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by Shanto | Oct 14, 2020 | Fashionnovation events |
Fashionnovation is always prompt about changes. When the newest batch of TFD embarked, they literally had nothing to do, no study, no activity. In Covid-19 lockdown, such situation caused a great mental stress in each and every student in the world. And TFD-46 was more prone to this mental breakdown because they had nothing to do then. We thought about them and arranged a free online course named ‘Printing for fashion designers’ with Shawkat Hossain Sohel, the Chief Designer of Unifill Dyeing Mills Ltd.
The course was fun, engaging and it offered a great learning opportunity for all the fashion designing students. We didn’t only help the students of TFD, we also gave free accesss to our courses to the students from Chittagong University, Jahangir Nagar University, Mowlana Bhashani University of Science and Technology and Shanto Mariam University of Creative Technology. In the course, students learnt about the principles of printing, the calculations, the way to design advanced repeats in Photoshop.
Md. Mahamudul Hasan, our Head of the department, Rebeka Sultana, the Assistant Professor of our department, Yesmin Tuli, Faculty of National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER) and Setara Begum, the Head of the Textile Engineering Department of BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) mentored and inspired us while running the online course. Special thanks goes to our Head of the department because without his optimistic approval, it wouldn’t be possible.
Our ‘Printing for fashion designers’ course covered by Bunon. Courtesy: Screenshot taken from Bunon’s website.
Setara Begum, The Head of the Textile Engineering Dept. BUFT joined our course and inspired us time to time
In the mean time of running the online course, our founder thought about our online presence and felt the necessity of our own website. So Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba immediately started working day and night to initiate our website. He bought the domain and hosting and surprised all of our members on one dreamy night! With the help of other Fashionnovation members and their content contributions, we finally launched our beloved website- www.fashionnovation.com and here it is!
According to us, www.fashionnovation.com is our online home, our pride and our dream. It’s an attachment to our heart. Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba says “This website is like our home, our contents are like furniture and photos are like wall paint. Our members are working hard to decorate their beloved home with all what they got- their divine soul and uncanny talent.”
As you’ve read about Fashionnovation’s free online course, you’ll also be interested to know about The Journey of Fashionnovation!
by Shanto | Oct 13, 2020 | Fashionnovation events |
Day by day, Fashionnovation started making a history. From its infancy state, Fashionnovation started to transform to its youth. On the 24th of November 2019, Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba made the biggest call of Fashionnovation- ‘The saree Punjabi day’.
All the students from TFD-43, 44 and 45 gathered together merrily wearing saree, Punjabi and enjoyed themselves with a cultural program and fun games. Everybody enjoyed the day to the fullest and that day proved that Fashionnovation is really the hub of TFD. It is a part of their love, passion and devotion. And every action of TFD is Fashionnovation centric.
Our Founder and President Kazi Purba giving his speech on the cultural event of Saree Punjabi day.
TFD-43 posing for a lively photo in the saree-punjabi day
TFD-45 posing for a lively photo in the saree-punjabi day
by Shanto | Oct 13, 2020 | Our works, The story of Fashionnovation |
Digital Wall Magazine: The Very First of Its Kind in The Varsity!
In 2019, we felt that there isn’t any platform for the TFDians to publish their write ups though they are extremely talented in writing.
Kazi Purba, being a writer of Kaler Kantho and Textile Today himself, immediatedly took a decision to do something for it. He asked Md. Mahamudul Hasan and got his positive feedback. As there wasn’t any funding, Kazi Purba came up with a new form of magazine-‘Digital wall magazine’ and launched ‘Ronger Jadukor’ with his hard earned money from feature writing!
All the students who wrote in Ronger Jadukor, showed that we, the TFDians are not only creative in drawing, painting, we are also master at writing.
The students from TFD-43, 44 came up with wonderful stories, poems and illustrations. we became overwhelmed by reading all of the writings and a seed of another venture started to grow in his mind.
What’s the venture? Well, let’s keep it a secret now! By this time, the venture is well alive. If you are a member of Fashionnovation, you already know it. But if you aren’t, you just need to keep patience and go through our next history timeline writings!
Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, the Founder and President of Fashionnovation standing beside the digital wall magazine ‘Ronger Jadukor’. He is also the editor and publisher of the magazine
