Hunar Partners with Neeta Lulla to Host Its First-Ever Virtual Fashion Show for Students and Young Entrepreneurs
Hunar Online Courses, an online learning platform to empower women by helping them learn new skills and become financially independent, hosted its first-ever live digital fashion show in the presence of celebrity designer Neeta Lulla, a member of the Oscar voting body for 2020, today. Hunar had rolled out a call for applications to participate in the fashion show and submit designs on 15th January for the budding designers, homemakers, and its student community.
The participants were given the assignment to style a look or illustrate a garment inspired by any iconic Bollywood movie. A total of 3,000 design entries were submitted for which more than 3 lakh public votes were received. Out of these submissions, 125 got selected to showcase their designs before the jury through a ramp walk during the virtual show.
Nishtha Yogesh, CEO of Hunar Online Courses, said, “Our journey with Hunar began with a simple mission. We wanted to make it possible for anyone across our country to learn creative skills conveniently, from the comfort of their home and in the language of their choice. We hoped that with these skills our students would be able to gain financial independence, start home businesses, gain recognition and build a new identity for themselves.”
“Through this fashion show and sale, we wanted to provide our students with a larger platform to showcase their talent and sell their exclusive designs. Today, we want to celebrate their determination, courage, and skill,” she added.
The show themed “Filmy Fashion” gave a platform to Hunar’s students from across India to showcase their designing skills before a panel jury and more than 13,000 virtual viewers. Three winning collections were selected based on live polling and reviews from the panel of celebrity judges, including four-time national award-winning fashion designer Neeta Lulla, CEO, and founder of Hunar Online Courses, Nishtha Yogesh and Ajita Reddy, former Chairperson of FICCI and Director of the designer fashion brand, TheHLabel.com.
Celebrity Fashion designer Neeta Lulla said “This is a beautiful endeavour, especially for those students who have learnt to create all this from home. To see this splash of colour, speaks volumes about the vibrancy in the hearts and minds of the students. It’s amazing to see them bring out their creative talent!”
The show gave an opportunity to the students to present their designs to industry leaders and potential customers. Additionally, 400 viewers purchased designs created by the featured students, encouraging them to build their enterprises and get financially independent.
Through this program, Hunar launched 125 fresh fashion designers from 75+ Indian cities, who, during the show, showcased 10 collections and 50 designs.
Please find below details of the winning collections:
- Most Popular Collection (by live public voting) - Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghar collection
- Harshita Yadav, Shaili Tyagi, Babita Bose, Astha Shrivastav, Sai Sreeja Kolisetti, Purva Kamat, Swati Vyas, Hamida Hakim, Manisha Patel, Nahid Shaik Zameer, Anuradha Sampathi Rao, Zil Patel, Sandhya Kumari, Tulsi Patel
- Judges’ Favourite Collection - Veere Di Wedding Collection
- Himja Salathia, Taruna, Padmini, Bhawana Parekh, Anjali Bhatiya, Darshana Yadav, Shaheen Siddiquie, Sana Shaikh
- Most Wearable Collection - Ram Leela Collection
- Mirza Rahat, Feeziya, Jayashree, Rani Samyukta, Yaminee Mohit, Reshma Anwar, Aradhana Mishra, Nusrat Zaheen, P. Shrutihka, Divya Gandhagaur, Sowmya M Shetty
The fashion show was streamed live on March 3rd from 2:00 PM onwards and aired for 120 minutes on the Hunar Online Courses Website. The program brought recognition for the students and enabled them to kick-start their entrepreneurial journey in the fashion design business.
Thousands of viewers participated in the interactive virtual fashion show and voted for their favourite garment during the final show, which showcased real models walking on the ramp. The winners of this virtual fashion show received a host of benefits, such as:
- Being featured on thehlabel.com, Hunar Online Courses’ e-commerce website, to be sold at retail prices to online shoppers.
- Getting opportunities to sell their designs on other retail platforms, such as Amazon and others.
- Receiving the token of achievement by way of trophies for selected and certificates for all participants.
- Securing complete guide to designing, creating, and marketing their startup brands and fashion businesses.
The other featured collections Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge Collection, Om Shanti Om Collection, Devdas Collection, Hum Apke Hain Koun Collection, Bahubali Collection, Bajirao Mastani Collection and Jab We Met Collection.
Through their courses, Hunar has trained more than 10,000 women. Hunar Online also assists women students for two to three months in building their collection and marketing it through the My Boutique program. Around 30 per cent of all Hunar Online students have begun their own online and offline boutique businesses.
