Kathmandu,
London-based designer, Shakila Thebe, who recently post-graduated MA from Central Saint Martins and studied BA at London College of Fashion(2017) has organized a one-day free workshop called “The Open Workshop” with a fellowship of her collaborate and promoter Nawal Rai from Parcha Productions at Botanist, Kathmandu on 1st May. The workshop conducted was 6 hours long, from 10 am to 3 pm. The workshop with small funding fees was designed to bring all the fashion students as well as professionals to partake and participate in one space so as to obtain some insights, and knowledge and to equally share their own creative ideas. Shakila relaunched her brand through the CSM MA collection amid the lockdown in 2022. Shakila calls her seminal collection “Disrupted Immigrant” because she considers it to be a visual celebration of a dislocated immigrant, focusing on the juxtaposition between pre-existing clothes and the ephemeral nature of diaspora identities.
Fashion events in Asia
The endeavor of this short workshop was to provide a wider aspect of knowledge in terms of art and fashion on the international level. The workshop was structured to provide students with the opportunity to experiment with their abilities and to encourage them to embark upon the creative design journey to refine their style and skills. Thebe said, “I genuinely believe it will be a great one-time opportunity for fashion students in Nepal to enhance their capabilities and nevertheless to bring them together, share ideas and form a network for future events especially coming back to a bit of normality after almost two years of lockdown. She mentions that during the crisis in arts and fashion, Nepali young students urge to seek that space to explore and feel more confident again and that she wants to make a secure and safe space for them where they can discuss and explore their work without any restrictions. The funds collected from the workshop will be donated to a school called Adarsha Adharbhut Vidyala, located in Ambegudin, Taplejung, Nepal.
Some of the unique features of Sahkila’s work are the repurposing and dismantling of items found mundane objects such as plates and spoons in order to create fragmented patterns and silhouettes. Similarly, she has worked with exaggerated color proportions and textures which are the highlights of her collection in order to create a sense of intentional tackiness that is personal to the designer. “When I look around the local streets in the home country Nepal, there are so many bold bombarded colored advertisement boards, block colorful clothes. Nothing seemed organized yet so perfectly harmonized within people and space” Thebe said. In the extraordinary creation of Thebe, we can witness that the fabrics she has used are second-hand, tied in with references to her homeland and her own aesthetic.
Her collection depicts re-wearability to escape the culture of wastefulness in the current state of the fashion industry. Her clothes can be seen not merely as a message but also as a form of art, readable like poetic stories, taking everyone on a cultural journey where she explores and celebrates the reality of the displaced immigrant. Furthermore, her collection navigated the various identities of the Nepalese diaspora and the disruption in their space due to relocation and assimilation. Her work has been featured on many websites such as VogueRunway, Office Magazine, SHOWstudio, and many more. To date, Thebe has received the L’Oreal Professionnel Scholarship award and The Honorable Daphne Guinness Hardship Award.
