Friday Dec 13, 2024
Wednesday, 10 August 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Aishath Najwa is a final year student of Fashion Design at Raffles Design Institute, Colombo. At the recently-concluded Chokolaate Mother and Daughter Fashion Show, she shone brightly, receiving two awards. Following are excerpts of an interview conducted with Najwa:
Q: What are the awards that you won?
A: I won two awards; one is for the Most Popular Designer that was from the audience’s vote. The other one is the Most Facebook Liked Designer.
Q: Was this your first competition and how did you enter?
A: This is my first competition. I entered through Raffles and my lecturers and colleagues supported and encouraged me.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: I always wanted to be a designer. It was a hobby at first, but I always focused on design and fashion related things, so I decided to study properly. I want to be an evening wear designer, and hope to have my own label and my own brand one day.
Q: Why did you select Raffles?
A: I was researching colleges that offered Fashion Design. I found Raffles to be easier to work with and everything there is personalised towards the students.
Q: What can you say about your studies and your lecturers?
A: It’s very good. The lecturers give a lot of personal attention and guide you towards what you want. It is not just as a curriculum that you have to do, they guide you towards what you want to achieve.
Q: Can you go into what you learn at Raffles?
A: We cover the basics of design, and then go on to creating, stitching and both fashion and photo shoots. Apart from that we have other modules like brand management and IT skills.
Q: What is special about being a student at Raffles?
A: Whatever project that we do, it’s up to us to decide what to do. Raffles is always encouraging students to participate in events like this, and that gives us a lot of opportunities to see what is going on in the fashion industry.
Q: What advice would you give to a student who is thinking about becoming a fashion designer?
A: I would say, if you want to do it, go ahead. There might be times where you will feel like it is very difficult to do, times where you don’t feel confident enough or you see other people doing better than you. Just be strong, do whatever you really want and just follow your dreams.