by Purba | 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
![Fast Fashion Vs Slow Fashion: A Case Study]()
by Purba | 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).
|
Fast Fashion |
Slow Fashion |
| Production |
Rapid and mass production |
Slow and deliberate production |
| Design Approach |
Trend-driven and short-lived designs |
Timeless and enduring designs |
| Manufacturing |
Outsourcing to low-cost labor countries |
Emphasis on local, ethical manufacturing |
| Material Selection |
Synthetic materials and low-cost fabrics |
Natural, organic, and sustainable materials |
| Environmental Impact |
High pollution and waste generation |
Focus on sustainability and eco-friendliness |
| Consumer Behavior |
Impulse buying and frequent purchases |
Conscious consumption and fewer purchases |
| Supply Chain |
Lack of transparency and unethical practices |
Ethical sourcing and transparent supply chain |
| Social Responsibility |
Exploitation of low-wage workers |
Fair wages and labor rights |
| Longevity |
Disposable fashion with short lifespan |
Durable garments designed for longevity |
A table showing the differences between fast fashion and slow fashion.
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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![Fast Fashion Vs Slow Fashion: A Case Study]()
by Purba | 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
![Fast Fashion Vs Slow Fashion: A Case Study]()
by Purba | Oct 13, 2020 | Our works, The story of Fashionnovation |
Back in 2018, there wasn’t any platform for the students of the Department of Textile Fashion and Design (DoTFD) of Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) to express their artistic minds and to showcase their creative works. Being the most creative bunch of students by nature, there was no place for them to show their talent. There wasn’t any activity driven space for them and so it felt like the death of some creative souls in a puddle while they should be diving in an ocean. This situation always bothered a then second year student studying in the same department. This predicament made him to dream big. He started to talk about his dreams with his classmates and his mentors Dr. Abbas Uddin Shiyak, the Assistant Professor of Dyes and Chemical Engineering and Md. Mahamudul Hasan, the Head of the Department of Textile Fashion and Design. With everybody’s inspiration the boy decided to set sail. He took the decision to make something big with all what he had-his friends, his juniors, his mentors and his ambition to conquer.
That student is none other than our Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, the founder of Fashionnovation. With courage and belief, Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba started from the scratch. He asked his classmates to be the host and the students of Batch: 44 who were then studying in the first year to be their guests for a knowledge based quiz competition. Everyone unanimously joined the event. All the teachers happily gave their consent and Ummey Hani Barsha, the Faculty of the department joined the event as the judge. Thus the first ever fashion based quiz competition of Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX) if not of the entire country came into being. A new era of creativity and extracurricular activities started with a shine on the 7th of July 2018.
Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, the founder and president of Fashionnovation is anchoring the final round!
Our special guest of the event Ummey Hani Barsha, the Adjunct Faculty of Department of Textile Fashion and Design handing over the prize to the champion team
A group photo of all the participants along with our special guest
by Purba | Sep 27, 2020 | Our works, The story of Fashionnovation |
Fashionnovation is an extraordinary platform developed for the fashion loving students of BUTEX by Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, and it is bound with an aim to bring new ideas & innovations in fashion which will be something out of the box! We are going to take you through the journey of Fashionnovation which is no less than a fairy tale!
Before knowing about Fashionnovation, we need to know at first what fashion means. Actually fashion means a popular trend, especially a styles of dress and ornament or manners of behavior accepted by a large number of people. And the word innovation means the process of coming with new methods, ideas or products. So, Fashionnovation the word stands for newly created designs, concepts or themes which are actually based on the main theme of fashion.
Fashionnovation was established by Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba who is a student of batch 43 of Department of Textile Fashion & Design(TFD) of Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX). Basically, Fashionnovation started its journey on the 7th of July, 2018 by arranging a fashion related quiz competition named “Fashioknowledge Fiesta”. By keeping the main theme or concepts of fashion, Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba and his team Fashionnovation organised competitive quiz competitions, prize giving events for inspiring book reading, Fashion Illustration competition, Fashion related courses, etc. for the textile engineers who are actually intersted in fashion design.
Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, the founder and president of Fashionnovation is anchoring the final round!
Mr. Kazi Purba said about Fashionnovation, ”There are many meritorious students in the department of Textile Fashion & Design at BUTEX who have keen interest to do something innovative. When I was admitted into this department I perceived that we need a platform by which we can uphold our creative thinkings to the world. And from that realization I arranged “Fashioknowledge Fiesta” with my batchmates & juniors. When I was only in Level-02 Term-01 I started to give contexture of our dream institution Fashionnovation. We had lack of sponsors at the beginning but our thinking out of the box enabled us to overcome those unfavorable situations.”
“Fashioknowledge Fiesta” was a thrilling quiz competition based on the knowledge of the elements of fashion & basic fashion. In that competition there were 6 teams who participated spontaneously & every team consisted of 3 members. Those teams were named Applique, Pallab, Blooming Bud, Invincible, Third Degree Burn and Dream Team. With the combined efforts, love and strong interest of all participants and the active participation of TFD-44, this fascinating intradepartmental quiz competition was organized for the first time in the history of the University. Never before any quiz competition related to fashion was arranged in BUTEX, so it is the first of its kind in the university if not in Bangladesh There were a lot of good wishes and co-operation from all the teachers including respectable Assistant Professor Sutapa Chowdhury madam, Rebeka Sultana and current Head of the Department Md. Mahsmudul Hasan sir.
The competition was devided in many rounds based on some creative & intelligent questions related to fashion. Through competitive fights among those teams, team Applique & team Pallab went for the final & in the final round by keeping difference of 7 points with team Pallab, team Applique won that glamorous competition. The special guest, Ummey Hani Barsha rendered the most expected prize to the winning team,”Team Applique ” and the main part of the event ended with her concluding remarkable speech.
On 26th June of 2019, Fashionnovation published a digital wall magazine named “Rong er Jadukor” for the very first time at BUTEX. And during the pandemic situation of COVID-19, Fashionnovation didn’t sit workless. Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba, the Founder and President of Fashionnovation, took initiatives to arrange “Fashionknowledge Fiesta 2.0” for TFD batch:45. TFD-45 participated there spontaneously. It was also a fashion related quiz competiton and it was the second season of the flagship event of this organization.There were 4 teams consisting of 3 members in each & every team. Those teams named “The Kingpins”, ”SARS”, ”Fuego” & “The Counterfeiterz”.This event was the very first intradepartmental “Fashion related online quiz” event. Again there was no other online fashion quiz related event arranged in the university. Fashionnovation launched it for the first time in the university’s history. In the competition the teams had to face various questions and basic knowledge about fashion. After a hardcore battle between the teams, In the final, team “Sars “became the champion and the team “Fuego” became the runner-up.
After that Mr. Kazi Purba also tried to introduce Fashionnovation with the totally new batch of BUTEX batch-46. Fashionnovation started an online course based on textile printing on 11th May of 2020. Mr.Shawkat Hossain Sohel, chief designer of Unifill Composite Dyeing Mills Ltd., who started teaching the members of Fashionnovation along with its guest members from Chittagong Unviersity, Jahangir Nagar University and Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University all over printing design,digital printing design, chest printing design & pattern design respectively. Mr. Sohel said, ”The fashion designers of our country make many innovative designs by their creative thinkings. But they have not enough knowledge about printing technology & so that they are unable to make a position in apparel fashion.” But he is optimists that the fashion designers will make a place in the international world swiftly. This online course was launched by respected head of TFD, Md. Mahamudul Hasan. And the special guests were Setara Begum, Head of the Department of textile at BUFT & Yesmin Tuli, Lecturer of Fashion Designing at NITER and hosted by .Kazi Farhan Hossain Purba. Batch 44, 45 & 46 of BUTEX participated in this course. And it is a matter of pride that now Fashionnovation is not closed only in the four walls of BUTEX. Because in this recent online printing course, with the students of BUTEX, the students of Chittagong University(CU), Mawlana Bhashani Science & Technology University (MBSTU), Jahangirnagar University (JU), Shanto Mariam University of Creative Technology & BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) are also participating.
After all, by participating in this kind of fascinating competitions, one can easily show his talent in fashion world. And it is a fantastic and great platform for a textile engineers to show his/her creativity, art work and the power of innovation. And ,we can say that Fashionnovation has started its journey not to be stopped at anywhere. And it has started with a dream to create a platform for the students of Department of Textile Fashion & Design to showcase their fashion related works, kindle their passion & love for fashion. So,we can hope that Fashionnovation will create knowledgeable fashion designers as well as textile engineers who will be able to represent Bangladesh to the whole world.
Nashita Ahmed
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering
Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX)
Mahmud Hosen
Department of Fabric Engineering
Bangladesh University of Textiles (BUTEX)
You might be interested to know about a club called BUTEX Career Club with which Fashionnovation is a media partner. To make us your media partner, you can reach us at fashionnovationfd@gmail.com
