Priya Rana, the coordinator of the Fashion Club, took some time out from her practice sessions to talk to the Oasis English Press about the club, and its functioning.

Every Oasis, the Fashion Club takes part in the Fashion Parade (often called FashP) that is organised by the Department of Theatre. The club, which currently consists of over 20 participants, will be putting forward 15 models for the event, with more males than females dressing up and walking the ramp this time around. This edition of FashP will take place on the final day of Oasis, and will see numerous colleges competing against BITS.

The costumes, hair, jewelry, and makeup are all usually done by the members of the club themselves, who believe it increases the creative aptitude amongst them. In addition, since the club members have to stick to the fest’s theme, designing and fabricating their dresses gives them a greater degree of freedom.

‘Although the participants are putting in tremendous amounts of effort, our chances look slimmer than last year, a fact which can be attributed to lesser funding,’ said Priya, on being asked about winning prospects. However, this doesn’t shake the Fashion Club’s resolve as they continue to give it their best shot, dressing differently this year to be in line with the theme of counterculture. Last year, in her opinion, the club had a better portfolio than this year. The club still needs to learn and improve a lot to reach the level of colleges like CVS – the winners of FashP last Oasis.

Priya, who was also the coordinator of the Fashion Club last year, said that being a coordinator was a wonderful experience mainly because of the enthusiasm portrayed by the club members. Her juniors, especially this year, have been hard at work, and they ensure that she isn’t excessively burdened during her psenti semester.

The Fashion Club will be going for outstation events next semester, and they hope to perform well at college fests in Jaipur and Delhi. ‘Fashion is something that is taken very seriously in those colleges, as opposed to us,’ said Priya.

As for a message to the general BITSian, Priya asserted that most students feel that fashion, and hence the Fashion Club, is not for them. They believe that prior experience is required. She wants to change this perception in BITSians, and she sincerely hopes that the turnout for Fashion Club trials increases with every semester.