Visiting fashion designer students from New Zealand held a unique fashion show in Coimbatore with western dresses made out of India fabrics.
Models along with their designers walked on the ramp showcasing dresses made out of sarees, kurtas, silk, etc.
A student of New Zealand, Erin Wellington made a western dress from a pink coloured saree.
"We made garments from sarees (traditional Indian drape) which were from this area. All the staff at our university thought that it would be like a really amazing idea to make a connection through the countries while we were there and asked us would you like to go to India? A lot of us said yes, I would love to go to India as it is about going back to the roots, where you get the fabric form and learning about how their process is done," said Wellington.
Managing Director of New Zealand Institute of Fashion Technology Kevin Smith said the students got a lot of exposure.
"They have met so many people here, in the industry and within this educational institute. New Zealand designers are using India and places like India to manufacture their fashions because New Zealand is not big enough to have a production industry but are very good at selling their designs. They are selling their designs around the world and they need somebody very very good to make them, plus of course they need the best textiles in the world," said Smith.
Smith added he was exploring more such exchange programmes which could help students from both countries.