Wednesday 1 March 2017

A Story of Success: Althea Krishna



Fashion is a vast world and aspiring fashion designers are expected to absorb every valuable inspiration like a sponge. They need to be creative, innovative and talented. It’s a rat race out there and every single person has to keep up with the pace.

Today there are many fashion designing institutes that impart the best knowledge but how you absorb all of it is what matters. Everyone wants to carve a niche in the fashion industry but very few come out successful.

As quoted by Colin Powell, “Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence” and this fits perfectly with the Hyderabad based designer, Althea Krishna.

Althea Krishna, a former student of Hamstech Institute of Fashion and Interior Design, in Hyderabad is a true inspiration to all aspiring fashion designers.
 
Althea pursued a 2-year Diploma course and received an opportunity to participate in Hamstech’s Calantha- 2014 fashion show. She showcased the “Sautali” collection for which she a jury award and tons of appreciation.
 
The annual fashion show Calantha gave this dynamic designer the right platform to showcase her creativity and talent. During her fashion designing course, Althea gained much insight and exposure to the fashion industry and in 2012 she gained the confidence to start her own label, “Althea Krishna”.



 
Althea owes her success to Hamstech and expresses her gratitude saying, “Every person has his own talent and at Hamstech all the faculty members and lecturers helped me identify mine. All the skills and techniques taught at Hamstech helped me gain success when I applied them to my business.”

It is from here that there was no looking back for Althea. The young designer enjoys designing for every age group. Though, keeping the traditional Indian roots in mind, she has added a touch of vintage look too.

Althea Krishna’s new line collection has been doing the rounds. She has showcased her clothing line at the Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai taking inspiration from the demonization of INR 500 and 1000 currency notes.

The most highlighted feature of her quirky line collection are silhouettes with bold cuts and the use INR 500 and 1000 currency notes printed along with a flash of fresh colours.



Over the years, Althea has established her signature style as fusion- a blend of contemporary and bridal wear using exquisite Indian embroidery like gota, mirror, zardosi, bead and thread work. Each silhouette is creatively embossed with the ‘no longer’ currency notes on the fabric. Keeping the coming season in mind, she has chosen to use organic cotton along with tussar silk which is absolutely comfortable to wear.

After the success of Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai, Althea has bagged an exclusive invite to the Paris Fashion Week and Cannes Film Festival, which will be held in the month of April.
Like Althea Krishna, who has established herself as an accomplished designer, you too have the potential to do wonders.

Here’s a piece of advice for every aspiring designer-

Be yourself- never forget who you are.

Love your audience- if you love you audience, you will enjoy designing for them.

Be observant- keep an open eye for the latest trends.

Be open minded- be like a filter, take only what is required and leave out the rest.

Networking is the Key- Build a strong network with the right people, this will make your life easier.

But most of all, remember- “Be Fearless in the Pursuit of What sets Your Soul on Fire”