internship report

[ ] October 20, 2009

FOREWORD

The search for an internship was a tedious task. The options were to intern

with a designer, a retail giant or an export house. Having had previous experiences

with the latter two I decided to pick the designer category. It was a gruesome task to

apply for an internship. Most designers were hoping to train and hire or just had

conducted training sessions for the year so there were limited openings. I, with great

difficulty landed my internship with the designer Nikasha Tawadey. She is a

relatively new designer; Bombay based, and has been in the industry for five years.

Before joining here I had started elsewhere as a merchandiser and completely

despised the environment. Hence my search continued. I wanted to intern with a

designer who would be participating in the fashion week and whose design sensibility

would be different from mine as I wanted my mind to open up and seek different

horizons. I chanced upon Nikasha Tawadey went for the interview and in two days I

got a call asking me to join as soon as possible. Hence on the 24th of July commenced

the journey of my internship.

Ulka Javadekar Pearl Academy of Fashion

[ ] October 20, 2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to convey my gratitude to Ms Nikasha Tawadey for giving me the

opportunity to intern with her. I would also like to thank my co- workers Madhuritu

Dutta and Tina Bhardwaj for all their help. All the above mentioned people have

provide me guidance and help pave my career path , I would like to convey my

sincere gratitude to them.


[ ] October 20, 2009

INTRODUCTION

The organization I interned with was Pacific Brands. Pacific Brands belongs to

the designer Nikasha Tawadey. Nikasha is a Mumbai based designer. She has a small

production unit in Santa Cruz west in Mumbai and a store in Bandra.

Nikasha`s collection embodies a vintage feel with a rhapsody of colours

coming alive through the interplay of fabrics and prints, simple silhouettes with

classic cuts, interlaced with trimmings and embroidery, eye for detail is an

explanation for all her collections in a nut shell. Her designs exude femineity whether

it is in terms of silhouettes, colors, fabrics or prints.

Nikasha’s designs are an Indo western blend. The silhouettes are

inspired from the days of the Maharajas. The anarkalis, the straight fit pyjamas, the

flaired angarakhas etc. The garments are mostly Suits, tunics, kaftans, saris and

lehenga choli. Indian garments with a slight touch of the west.

Her design flair reflects her years of working with Sabyasachi Mukherji. The

use of light silks, chiffons, georgettes, brocades, muls in combination with turquoise,

coral, glass, wooden beads all interlaced with lace, satin, ribbon, splashed with a hint

of embroidery make every garment look chic .The color palette comprises of red,

haldi(yellow),coral, beige, cream, white, sea green and mauve.

Detailing is done in terms of Indian prints in colors of antique gold, copper

and whites, pleats, piping, tucks, ruching and embroidery.

Some key features of her designs are juxtaposing of the most unthinkable

color combinations, the dhoti pants, frills in garments made from crushed cotton and

latkans (doll and gotta).

Besides garments designing of accessories such as neck pieces, stoles, head

gears belts and bags are also done.

My internship with Nikasha Tawadey was for a period of 3 months. I was

appointed various projects such as orders, printing, dyeing, silhouette development,

look book creation etc. This internship has provided an insight into the fashion


[ ] October 20, 2009

industry. It has not only provided growth professional but also personally and proved

to be of invaluable guidance and stepping stones for my selection of future avenues.

COMPANY PROFILE AND STRUCTURE

DESIGNERS PROFILE

Nikasha Tawadey after completing her education in Delhi with Honors in

Psychology, Nikasha set out to study psychoanalysis at the Tavistock School in

Mumbai, but her creative urges drew her towards fashion designing. During this

course, she dabbled into fashion designing and year 2003 saw the well known

designers Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla approach her to retail her line at Selfridges

(London). The year 2004 saw the birth of her label “Nikasha”. Today Nikasha is the

only Indian designer retailing her exclusive Spring Summer collection at Macy's ( San

Francisco ) under her brand name “Nikasha”.

Nikasha has been among the lucky few designers to have had a chance to dress

the then reigning tennis beauty queen Anna Kournikova She has also been

instrumental in designing and styling for the Lifestyle campaign. Actress Preity Zinta

has sported some of her chic ensembles in the movie Lakshya. From designing for

Anup Jalota`s music video to the Coke commercial shot with top Pakistani stars; and

her participation at the Singapore Fashion Week in 2005, are just some of highlights

that add to her illustrious career graph.

TYPE OF ORGANISATION

The design house Nikasha is at a very nascent stage. She has had marked

achievements in just five years of being in the industry. The design studio is based in

Santa Cruz West (Mumbai). The showroom is in Bandra. The strength of the unit is

25 persons.There is a cabin for the designers and accountant and there are two galas.

One for the embroiders and another for the tailors.


[ ] October 20, 2009

The breakdown of the unit is:-

Assistant designers -3

Tailors – 10

Masterji -1

Embroiders – 10

Accountant – 1

Peons - 2

SCALE

The hierarchy in unit:


DESIGNER

DESIGN TEAM

PRODUCTION HEAD

STITCHING AND CUTTING

FINISHING

EMBROIDERYHEAD

EMBROIDERY WORKERS

ACCOUNTS

RUNNERS STORE MANAGER

[ ] October 20, 2009

TYPES OF BUYERS

Besides personal clients as mentioned above there is an elaborate list of

buyers.

Buyers list: Ogaan (Mumbai) Ensemble (Delhi/Mumbai),

Zoya (Mumbai) Aza (Mumbai),

Kalika (Bangalore) Cypress, Macy's (San Francisco)

Collage (Banglore, Chennai) Rudraksh (Pune)

Carma (Delhi)


[ ] October 20, 2009

DEPARTMENTS

There is no specific task allotment of task for the design team based on

department divisions as it is a small production unit. The department segregation

applies only the tailors and embroiders else everyone who is done with their delegated

task pitches in other tasks.

The overview of a generalized department division is:

o Design Department

o Production Department

o Dyeing

o Printing

o Finishing and Packing

Design team

The design team comprises of the designer Nikasha Tawadey and 3 assistant

designers. Designing is done for the fashion week, for the store in Bandra as well as

for exhibitions. The garments comprise of saris in chiffon, georgette and cotton with

gotta work and printing done. Tunics with pre-ruched churidars, salwaars, cowl pants

and dhoti pants. Kaftans, pleated tunics and kucchi tops. Blouses and lehengas.

Production Department

These assistant designers irrespective of their designation have a lot more

ground to cover as it is small production unit. They also function as merchandisers,

production heads for their respective orders and also are responsible for the

company’s correspondence with clients and buyers. The assistant designers also

handle clients and buyers.

The fabrics sourced are mostly utilized for accessory making. Trims used are

gotta strips, brocade borders, sequins, buttons, zippers, elastics, threads, needles etc.

These are sourced from a place called pyaidhuni in south Mumbai.

Sales in the store are also managed by the designers. There is a sales person

but personal clients are attended to by the design team themselves.


[ ] October 20, 2009

Production team

The masterji is responsible for patterns and construction of all garments. There

are 10 people on the sewing machines. Cutting and stitching is masterji’s

responsibility. Sampling in terms of silhouettes is done. Line balancing is the

responsibilities of the assistant designers and the masterji.

Embroidery team

All garments are only hand embroidered. There is one embroidery head and 9

embroiders. The embroidery head is responsible for the team. He has to make

“Kakhas” and develop new and innovative techniques in embroidery. Sampling for

embroidery is done by the embroidery department in charge. He also is responsible

for finding cost cutting techniques and time management of his team. Most garments

have sequins work, or embroider done on them. The motifs used are clove leaves,

palm leaves, olive leaves. The motifs are traditional motifs executed in kasab and peta

work. Chikankari is extensively used. Sequins are used in highlighting garments.

Latkans and belts and other embellishments are also executed in this department.

Dyeing

Dyeing is outsourced. Sampling of colors is done by assistant designers.

Crushing of fabrics and dyeing is done in Mahim.

Printing

Printing is also outsourced. Printing is done on chiffons, georgettes, silk and

cotton. Traditional motifs are printed mostly in antique gold, fresh gold, copper and

white.


[ ] October 20, 2009

Finishing and Packing

Finishing of the garment is taken care of by the respective tailors. The

checking is redone by the assistant designers. The garments are draped on the

dummies to see the fit and fall of the garment. They are photographed for

documentation and then taken for ironing. Ironing of the garments is done, they are

style coded, priced, folded and packed.


[ ] October 20, 2009

PROJECT UNDERTAKEN

My internship gave me the opportunity to work on various projects which

permitted me to apply my knowledge as well as get a firsthand experience of how the

industry works.

The various projects undertaken during the three months of internship:

Rudraksh

o Design development sheets

o Fabric sourcing

o Embellishment sourcing

o Design modifications

o Production

Carma

o Procurement of fabric

o Production

Store Production

o Designing of garments

o Fabric procurement

o Production

o Accessories

Sahachari Exhibition

o Designing of garments

o Silhouette development

o Fabric procurement

o Production


[ ] October 20, 2009

Lakme Fashion Week

o Sampling of dying

o Sampling of printing

o Developing placement prints

o Sampling of embroidery

o Silhouette development

o Production

o Accessory procurement

o Fittings

o Backstage assistance

Look book

Swatch file and scrap book

Orders of Personal clients


[ ] October 20, 2009

RUDRAKSH

Rudraksh is a multi brand store in Pune. I had to carry out the order sent by

this store for 18 garments based on the autumn/ winter ’09.

The tricky part of completing orders is that there are multiple orders

taking place parallel. So not only done line balancing have to be managed but

also the time frame and vacancies as per dead lines of other orders.

Completing an order means starting from scratch. You have to know the

pieces that you are suppose to prepare. Based on which you understand the

work that goes into them.

Some pieces have embroidery so would take longer to finish whereas others

might just have stitching details.

The aspect of availability of fabric, dyeing, printing cannot be overlooked.

The patterns to some might be more complex than others.

In some designs fabrics without dying cannot go for printing hence some

pieces have a lot more preprocessing than others.

Keeping all these factors in mind one has to decide to give pieces to

various departments without creating bottle necks in production. You have to

put all your resources to optimum use.

This order had a 4th September as a deadline. I had one month to complete the

order.

So basic steps for production would be in the following sequence:

Design development sheets

Procuring fabric

Consumption per design of fabric

Dyeing fabric

Printing of fabric

Embroidery of fabric

Cutting and stitching

Checking the fall and fit

Finishing

Ironing and tagging

Packing


[ ] October 20, 2009

First I had to make design development sheets for all the designs and

give a copy for masterji to follow and also refer to the fabric consumption

sheet in order to sort out all the fabrics, measure them based on the

consumption for every design; add color swatches and send them for dying.

Before sending out the fabric one has to make a challan for the dyers stating

the consumption of fabric and putting swatches of the fabric, hence one can

follow up when the stock is returned from dying. We write the consumption

and name of the order and color to be dyed on the side of the fabric with our

names as different order pieces go together for dying so segregation becomes

easier later.

This initially did not seem very crucial but over time one starts valuing

even such rules such as making minor notes because in the long run it is a time

saver and avoids mismanagement.

Once the fabric comes from dyeing I created packets of fabrics used in

a design and made design wise packets. Then, I gave the pieces that did not

require embroidery but had the same pattern for cutting and a couple of pieces

for embroidery and sent the pieces for printing as per requirement. One must

keep a track of all pieces at all times as they are prone to be misplaced or get

used in another order by chance. Minor errors add to expenses in terms of time

and hence in turn money.

When the deadline was closer then I started stitching the minor aspects

of the garments such as the belts, latkans and accessories that require

attention.

On completion of pieces they were inspected for lose threads, they

garments were put on dummies to check the fit and fall and if there are any

flaws. Then the garments were ironed, coded, tagged and packed, basically

made ready for dispatch.


[ ] October 20, 2009

CARMA

Carma is a multi brand store in Delhi. Since the clientele between

Delhi and Mumbai, we had to modify our designs. We used more heavy

fabrics and did more elaborate embroidery. I worked on productions of two

completely contradicting clientele. Pune has a clientele whose prefers simple

garments without excess work and money wise also people are careful and on

the conservative unlike Mumbai where the clientele is more experimental and

Delhi is where money is readily available and people are ready to spend and

want heavy garments in terms of richness of fabric and embroidery.

Our modifications in design were more in relation with the fabric. For

Delhi fabrics used were rich like brocade in bright colors. The embroideries

were more elaborate.

Carma I assisted one of the assistant designers with this order.

I got an insight into designing as per clientele. Understanding the difference in

various markets and needs of customers

In this project I had to procure fabric and embellishments. I made the

doll latkans for all the garments with tie-ups. The deadline for this project was

the 22nd September which was the day after Eid and the tailors had not

returned in full strength and the order had to go out that very day so we

assisted in stitching garments. We stitched dupatta borders, tunics, gotta strips

for latkans. It was very crucial for us to finish this order because this was the

first time working with Carma and they had a promotional event the next

afternoon.

The cutting, stitching, finishing, ironing, tagging, coding, packing and

dispatching was done by three of us belonging to the design team.


[ ] October 20, 2009

STORE PRODUCTION

We designed numerous saris, lehengas, tunics for the store for our bridal

collection and diwali season. I assisted in this project. I designed saris and got

them constructed. Since we were aiming for the bridal collection all our

garments had elaborate embroidery, brocade borders and were very bright and

colorful.

We made accessories from cloth strips. We made neck pieces, coin pouches,

potli bags, belts and head gears. We had leheriya dyed fabrics and waste fabric

which we put to use.

SAHACHARI EXHIBITION

I helped in design modifications and construction of kaftans and anakalis. I

aided in designing kaftans and saris. I helped make the inventory lists, tagging

of the garments. The event was in the world trade centre in Colaba. We made

all the arrangements such as packing all the garments, challan books, tag gun,

tags, visiting cards, visitors diary, stationery, making the costing sheets etc.

We had to move the garments to the world trade centre. I participated in the

exhibition too. We had a very good sale and the exhibition helped generate

more clientele.


[ ] October 20, 2009

LAKME FASHION WEEK

Lakme fashion week was a fun and great learning experience. The

fashion week was scheduled from the 18th September – 22nd September.

The preparation for the fashion week started in the first week of

September as we were completing other orders. The inspiration for the fashion

week was from Oriental silhouettes and the blooming of flowers.

The transition of a bud into flower was the theme. So the collection

starts with pastel shades and progresses into complete coral and red shades.

The color inspiration and the prints were initially from the Chintz textiles. We

did not end up using the prints but the color palette was carried forward.

The colors used are red, coral, mauve, light pink, rani pink, hot pink,

snuff, cream and white.

Fabrics used for the collection are chiffon, georgette, DuPont silk,

floral printed cotton-jute fabric.

The silhouettes were kaftans which are Nikasha trade mark and wraps,

with straight fit pants, wrap skirts and pants, shararas, halter necks, tie up

tunics, with high collar details. The embroidery was floral. Flowers placed on

garments are in soothing colors and their placements were such that it seems

that they are floating in the air.

I was given to do the sampling for dying. I had to select shades and go

to the dyer and get them developed. Once we finalized the shades I had to do

printing samples in a gold, copper, pink and tobacco color palette. I tried out

new motifs of palms leaves, floral motifs and other traditional motifs.

We did digital prints. This was one major assignment in this

project.There were floral prints which I worked on in photoshop. I had to

make placement prints for textile development. There were two motifs which I

had to work on the color palette, placement. I had to create border placemnts

The colors and prints got finalized from there we shifted to silhouette

generation.

In silhouette generation the key words were wrap, strips and high

collars. Twenty two silhouettes were finalized and the sampling for these was

conducted and rectifications were made. From there we discussed the color

palette for every design and the production began. In parallel I was also aiding


[ ] October 20, 2009

in the embroidery sampling. I helped develop khakhas and color combinations

of the threads.

Once everything was finalized production began. I made the design

development sheets and aided in the production and fittings which were

carried out a week before the fashion week.

The venue for the fashion week was Grand Hyatt. On day one we set up our

stall there with our previous two collections. Our show was on the 19th.

The 19th morning we packed all the garments. Made packets of the accessories

for every garment which were: the little coin bags and potlis, head gears and

shoes. With every packet we placed the models picture her garment details

like the color and the number of pieces in the ensemble and what accessories

she would be wearing and her shoe size.

Three hours before the show the models were in for makeup. We got

the garments ironed and made a list of the details of the garments for the

buyers. We got the models to get ready for the sure. We helped them into the

garments. Made sure the garments were worn properly all fastenings secure,

pins where ever required. The show went off smoothly. We then collected the

garments and got them to the stall area and spent the next couple of days

attending to buyers and taking orders.

The preparation for fashion week was a very enjoyable and a lot of

effort and time went into it.


[ ] October 20, 2009

LOOK BOOK

I made the look book for the autumn/ winter ’09 collection. I created a drape

texture from the garments used in the collection. The book has the garment

details, the style code, the color options and the backdrop is made from the

drapes and textures existent in the garments.

SWATCH FILE AND SCRAP BOOK

I have created a swatch file for embroidery swatches, i.e., the samples for the

fashion week.

I also made a scrap book for the autumn/winter ’09 collection. The scrap book

was made from magazine cut outs and pictures and write ups in newspapers.

PERSONAL CLIENTS

The days I went to the store I got to handle personal clients such as Reena

Vadhva, Sharmila Mohitey, Tisca Chopra, Suchitra Krishnamurthy etc.

It was a learning experience as you start understanding the other persons mind

set and fashion sense, it helps you gauge what you can sell to the person. It

gives you an understanding of the market and also understanding body types

and what looks good on the client. One sharpens their sales as well as personal

relational skills.


[ ] October 20, 2009

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This internship has been a very good eye opener. This is my first association with the Indian side of design. Since I have never been inclined towards Indian embroidery and the bright color palettes used, it was a new experience.

I got to carry out the Rudraksh order for 18 garments which aided me in understanding how production is carried out and also which pieces to give in which sequence based on embroidery, dying, accessories and trims. I had to make design development sheets and give a copy to masterji. These technical drawings made me understand the importance of the minute details as there can be a communication gap in the design due to misinterpretation of design or lack of details leading to mistakes which in turn lead to losses.

I got to learn different techniques of embroidery like peta, kasab , chita work etc. I got to learn about screen printing dyes, mixing colors and application of the same on fabric.

I got see the business and sales side of the industry and I got an insight into what the market demands are. I got to handle clients and take orders. I am not a very people person so this was a difficult task for me where I had to overcome mental barriers but eventually I did a fair job.

Designing and silhouette development is something that we have all done in college, what makes it different this time is that you are not designing for yourself but according to someone else’s inspiration and design sensibility and that is what I feel is challenging. Working in parameters not set by you.

The fashion week was an experience which teaches you to be quick on your feet. The process that builds up towards the preparation of the fashion week is a more elaborate version of what we do in college just with ten times the pressure and no retakes. I have not only applied everything I have applied in college but gained more knowledge. Working in the industry is far different than observing the industry.

Working for a designers helps you understand business aspects very clearly and do’s and don’ts of the industry. It provides clarity as to how to go about if one ever wants to start one’s own set up.


[ ] October 20, 2009

RETROSPECT

This internship was a large pedestal for experimenting not only in terms of design and creativity but also help determine the direction of a career path.

I feel that given the opportunity, no matter how big or small a platform, one can always excel. I feel that I have gained a lot from my internship with Nikasha Tawadey. One can choose to grab an opportunity given to them or let it just slip by.

It is one thing imaging or observing what the industry is like versus actually working in the industry. I decided to work with someone who has a contradicting design sensibility in comparison to my own. This logic I feel benefited me a lot as I have become more open to juxtaposing coloring, ethnic prints, motifs etc.

Though I do feel that if I had worked with a bigger brand I would have had better exposure and more projects to work on. After the first two months I felt that there was stagnation in the learning process which may not have occurred if there were vast variation in projects.

I feel that I have done justice to my internship and had an enjoyable working experience. One of the biggest benefits or positive aspects of this internship have been that by the end of the internship I developed confidence to put my knowledge to use and not hold back in doubt whether I am doing something correctly or not. I feel that I harnessed everything I could from this experience and would like to move to bigger pastures next time.

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

:Arthur Koestler


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[ ] October 20, 2009

VISUAL COMPILATION OF PROJECTS


internship report

Documents

designer nikasha tawadey

ms nikasha tawadey

label nikasha

internship report designer

indian designer

designer category

fashion designing

new designer bombay