The graduation ceremony of National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift) students warrants glitz and glamour and so when the first batch of its fashion and lifestyle accessory (F&LA) department passed out, everyone pitched in to make it memorable. 

The ceremony took place at City Centre’s Royal Bengal Room and the graduating students had put up Shilpit 17, an exhibition of their works. “In their final year, the students went for internship at top companies around the country. Today they have exhibited what they made and learnt,” said associate professor Jayati Mukherjee of the LA Block centre.

The chief guest for the evening were Sankar Sen and Suvankar Sen of Senco Gold & Diamonds. The company also presented a fashion show featuring its new collection. Here is a glimpse of what the students put up at their exhibition —

Student: Soumita Thakur 
Worked with: Biswa Bangla, Calcutta 
Theme: Gond and patachitra art, with emphasis on using the peacock as motif on different kinds of bags. “I also made footwear with jute,” said the Siliguri girl. “Usually jute is used just to make the soles of shoes but I’ve made them entirely with jute and the finish is beautiful.”

Student: Ayushi Agarwal
Worked with: Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas Jewellers, Jaipur 
Theme: Future heirloom, inspired by modern Mughal culture. “I’ve always wanted to design jewellery and was lucky to work with such a big name. My collection uses gold, rubies, polki uncut diamonds worth lakhs but today I am showcasing replicas,” smiled Ayushi, wearing a three-finger ring designed by her.

Student: Dyutiman Biswas 
Worked with: Biswa Bangla, Calcutta 
Theme: The jewel in this Barrackpore boy’s collection was an ek chala set like we see at Durga puja but instead of idols there were chhou mask-like figures of the gods. The mask for each god had images associating them with Bengal. The Durga mask had images of empowered women like Mamata Banerjee, Saraswati showed the Dover Lane festival, Ganesha showed Bengal Global Business Summit. The wall hanging also doubled as a key holder. 

Student: Smriti Bordia 
Worked with: bewakoof.com, Mumbai 
Theme: Quirky T-shirts and bags for the emoticon-era. “My personal style is minimalistic but my mentors had me work on this fun, colourful, youth-centric range,” said the Jaipur girl. Her own favourite creation was a T-shirt with a picture of a skeleton saying “‘Almost ready’, she said.”  Smriti also had sunglasses, pin badges and hip flasks.

Student: Sakshi Raj 
Worked with: Silver Emporium, Mumbai 
Theme: Mirror of the sky, inspired by Hyderabad’s Falaknuma palace. Her crockery is hand-crafted and given a dull finish. “They are the result of studying the paintings, architecture and furniture of the palace,” said Sakshi. She also had sets of shehnais and dhols to be gifted along with wedding cards.

Student: Lina Paul 
Worked with: Shruti Impex, Jodhpur 
Theme: The bags above and the table they are kept on are both creations of this Beleghata girl. “My theme was industrial-inspired furniture so my Acacia wood tables have a raw look. I also made clutch bags using wool and Gujarati threadwork on cotton and silk,” said Lina.