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Change Of Line
Do ex-insurance employees make good designers?
At least Kakoli Banerjee's headed that way. The former administrative officer with New
India Assurance has just been named Designer of the Year by the Confederation of Indian
Apparel Exporters for her Zen series, the graduation collection she presented earlier this
year at the end of her studies at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT),
Delhi. "I always knew I could do a bit of it," she recalls. As it turns out,
it's quite a bit. Banerjee, 33, has already raked in a number of awards from NIFT for the
Zen line, an Indo-western fusion series of mainly trouser suits with
blouses-that-could-well-be-jackets-that-could-well-be-kurtas. "It's a very well
thought out collection," says Asha Baxi, head of NIFT's Fashion Design Department.
"It started off as a conceptual idea, but ended up being practical and
functional." The line bears touches of what Banerjee hopes to make her signature:
natural fabrics, clean cuts, a minimalist look, a bit of playing around with collars. And
though she's working with Delhi couturier J.J. Valaya for now, she plans her own label a
few years down the line. "When people make a profession out of a hobby," she
smiles, "that's when they're happy. And touch wood, right now I'm really happy."
It helps.
-Anna M M
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