Designer Profile 2023: Preranaa Srinivas
Over this past weekend, I had the pleasure of sitting down with one of the designers for the 2023 MODA Fashion Show, Preranaa Srinivas, to ask her a bit about her current collection and what we can expect to see on the runway. Here’s your sneak peak into Pre’s collection this year:
Tell me about yourself— how did you get into design?
Well, I am a third year Business Economics and MAAD major. In terms of how I got into design— I guess one thing that I've really been struggling with in college and that MODA has really helped me with is determining how I want to balance certain aspects in my academic and professional life. When I came here, I thought I was gonna do political science and go to law school. Over the past couple of years I realized I actually don't want to do that— I want to somehow integrate creativity or something that I find fun and gratifying into my career and into what I want to do. And so last year I joined WHPK, and then I was like, okay, maybe I wanna work in music business or something. But I wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Then over the summer, I decided I wanted to learn how to sew. But it’s scary trying new things “so late”, or what society says is too late. Then one of my friends, she told me “you should do the DBC program”.
But I'm a third year and it sounded so competitive. And I've never drawn anything before, besides stick figures and like eye drawings in third grade class. So before I applied, I kind of also stalked the old designer profiles. I Googled fashion design silhouette and then I just started tracing on my iPad and I actually really liked how it turned out. I showed them to my friends and they told me I should do it. And so then I applied, I answered the questions, and I got an interview! During the interview actually, they told me that they don’t typically take third years. They didn't say it in a mean way, but they were just like preparing me for the realities of the program and acceptance process. I felt good about it though, and I left it and it was like, it's either gonna happen or it's not gonna happen– and then it happened.
And then just the process of setting your mind to something— it's gonna sound corny, but I thought it would be cool, instead of just consuming, to actually make something. I definitely took that sentiment with me, and for the past few months have been applying it to different parts of my life. Now professionally, I'm thinking maybe I want to go into design, or maybe I wanna learn UI or UX or something like that. A large part of that is because of MODA ,and also the people that I've met. For example one of the classes that I'm taking as a MAAD major is an intro to immersive environments.
So basically what we're doing is creating something similar to a VR experience, and I'm working with somebody who is in MODA. When we started she said, “listen, have you ever heard of 3D photogrammetry?”
I had no clue what she was talking about. My first reaction was, “the fuck is that? You're a CS major, I don't know what you're talking about.” She explained what it was— basically, you can take a camera and create this rendering of everything that is there by putting it inside a software. And they just… I have to show you. It's super cool.
Image via— example of 3D photogrammetry
This is 3D photogrammetry. A lot of bio majors use it for modeling, and it's popular in architecture I think. But my thought was: why aren't we using this for fashion? Especially in COVID, why don't we model clothes instead of mass producing ready-to-wear stuff? So that was another thing that was super interesting to me. Like the design process, and the technological implications of it. Um, this is not relevant at all.
No, it totally is, keep going. This is great. So, this is part of what got you interested in DBC? Do you plan to pursue this project outside of the fashion show?
I don't know— but participating, or wanting to participate, in the MODA design program created an understanding or awareness of the things that you can achieve outside of what you perceive you can, and just allowed me to get a better sense of my identity and who I want to be as a person, as a creative, as a professional, and as an academic.
The goal of our project right now is we want to take MODA designers, get to them at their fittings and do 3D photogrammetry. Basically take pictures of their models in the outfits at different angles, and then put it into the software and have a digital rendering of the models walking through the venue. It’s got me thinking that maybe I want to do some sort of 3D modeling for fashion, or design, in the future. It's super awesome to me that DBC isn't just designing— it was actually a super formative experience that's kind of directed my path onward, if that makes sense. So yeah, that was a little bit about me. You know my name, my major, my year. I'm from Massachusetts. That’s probably more what you were looking for.
What inspires you, and how did that influence your current collection?
Totally. Where do I draw my inspiration from? Okay. Yeah. One thing I really value reproduction. Like the reproduction or repurposing of ideas. I know that a lot of people are trying to “be original” and strive to be original, and it’s often looked down upon to draw influence from art that already exists and is readily accessible. Like you'll see some people saying, “I don't like when people go on Pinterest or TikTok, or they go on this and they draw inspiration from that, that's so…”. In my opinion, it doesn't have to be “I draw inspiration from those art house films that nobody has ever heard of because I'm so creative and original”. You’re allowed to say that you watched a TikTok and liked the colors. Or for example, one of the things that I drew inspiration from is when I went to the Art Institute over the summer. I took a bunch of pictures of the South Asian and Southeast Asian exhibits because there were so many silhouettes and colors that I liked. You can draw inspiration from anywhere. Reproduction is not a crime, you know? So I, I guess I draw a lot of inspiration from like things that I've seen, like with my collection right now I'm doing two looks.
Describe them to me.
One of them is a masculine look. There was a suit collection Dior 2019; when I saw it, I knew I wanted it to look like that.
She pulled up pictures from the Dior 2019 runway show, pictured below.
I want it to have a sash that looks like this, but I also want it to be different from a normal suit. I want it to be a narrow collar, and I found a vintage pattern that I liked and wanted to use. You can draw inspiration from so many different things and weave them together to create your own new thing.
Image via — Look from the 2019 Dior show
It doesn't have to be, “I'm not good enough”, or “I'm not creative enough”. I don't think anything is 100 percent unique or original at this point in time. With my collection right now– I know sometimes it gets a little corny when people do fashion collections based on social commentary or something, but one thing that my friend and I were really interested in over the break was talking about caste oppression. And I was thinking it would be so cool to explore how the caste system affected fashion. Cause I knew from the beginning when I applied that I wanted it to be some sort of cultural thing. And there were a lot of things that I learned through these discussions with my friend that were definitely a big inspiration.
My feminine look is kind of a subversion of the Brahman caste. If you've ever seen Brahman priests, they typically wear an all orange outfit and a hood. One choice that I made there is that I put it, the hood, onto my female model because I wanted to explore the idea of the intersectionality between sex and caste and gender roles.
Another thing I was learning about was Gandhi. And you know Gandhi, he was the epitome of privilege in that society. He was super educated, he studied abroad. And he came back and he made it his whole brand to dress like, well, shit. How he dressed and how that shaped the public narrative about him was so interesting to explore. And it's super, super interesting to see how fashion played a role in all these sociopolitical processes and cultural experiences.
And so yeah, my feminine look is kind of exploring that. It's all orange, just like Brahman priests wore, but it's a very deconstructed look. So that kind of points to how, in the past, only people who are higher caste had the privilege to present themselves properly and cleanly.
I’m excited to see them on the runway! Okay, last question– do you have any advice for anyone that's like looking to start out designing or is interested in fashion in general? Or anything you’ve learned through the DBC/design process you’d like to share?
Yeah, in general, honestly, if you’re looking to try something new like this you should just go for it. Like I said, before this, I had never even drawn anything beyond a stick figure. I think people will know the best about themselves. For me, for the longest time I just didn't have the confidence to outwardly present it.
And then you see a lot of the people in MODA who are designing or who are involved in MODA or creative spaces in general and you look at them and its easy to think, “Oh my God, you look so much cooler than me” and get intimidated by that. It's like a funny imposter syndrome thing. This is gonna sound very college liberal, but it's such a capitalistic way of thinking where you think that you need to acquire this or that in order to “be cooler”. One thing I’ve learned is that you should think less of that and think more in the mindset of viewing new things as a challenge. Be in the mindset of “I wanna see if I can do this. I have thoughts that mean something to me. Let’s make it work”.
And everybody that I've met in MODA, they look cool and I do get nervous around them, but they're so not judgmental. You can ask people for advice, and just go for it. Sometimes they'll be assholes, but people are assholes all the time, and you don’t want to associate with them anyways. Just avoid them. At the end of the day, this is just another art form. And if you're creative, this is a way of expressing this creativity that you've built up over the years. And if you're not creative, this is a way of imbuing that into your own life, which is always gonna be a net gain. So just do it. Just send it. If you wanna do it, just do it. Yeah.
Well said. Thanks for sitting down with me!
Come see Pre’s designs at the fashion show on February 24th!
