Fashion Design by Puja Nayyar

Fashion is a way to express your inner feelings.  The clothes we wear reflect our mood.  Puja Nayyar, one of the top fashion designers in India says, “As you design, you should take at least one thing into consideration and that is; will the garment fit the public and catch their eye and will it be a fast selling product?”  That will point you in the right direction for producing the next lot of garments. Often designer labels worn by the celebrities inspire the public to buy those items.

It was a dream come true for Puja Nayyar to take the fashion designing route.  She lives in the north of India, New Delhi.  She works in her own studio, working through the pre- production, production and post production before exhibiting her work.  Puja works to her full potential achieving her goals.  Her work allows her to work alongside other designers such as Ritu Kumar.  Her future aims are to keep on creating, designing and keep on growing as an artist.

Puja Nayyar, being one of the most recent fashion designers in New Delhi has a positive manner towards her work.  She has progressed through the “crossroads” of her career.  She is self- employed at Symphony Studio- based at her own residence.

Many of the NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) students took the same route as Puja Nayyar and specialised in their field in the final year.  “So keeping in contact with people (at this point) can be a challenge. Life is full of surprises and keeping in touch with people is a must because you never know when and where you will bump into your neighbour.”

Her fashion designing career gave her a great chance to showcase her work through many catwalk performances, each of which is theme based.  Collections by Puja have appeared on the ramps of India Fashion Week amongst many other highly profiled fashion venues and exhibitions.

As time goes by, Puja Nayyar improves her career by taking on new experiences, meeting people worldwide.  She identifies new trends which gradually enables her work to be globalised.  Travelling to places like Singapore, New York, Sao Paulo and London, she has been able to identify new cultures, customs and clothing.

Throughout Puja’s career, she wants to travel in the footsteps of one of the top designers, Gianni Versace – an Italian designer whose designs are ‘innovative and almost risqué.’  

Puja’s work is detailed, precise and with intricate finishes.  She distributes her garments to various boutiques, while keeping in mind her main aim – the products should match the needs of the market.

One of Puja’s first few theme based catwalk project, was based around the theme of “junk collection”.  It was called this because this particular project was arranged around an accumulation of scrap metal materials such as brass, tin and copper.  

This was the time period when she was working alongside Rohit Bal.  Together they combined the metal and fabric products, designing wearable pieces.  As she matches the garments against the models she looks the model’s physique/figure, height and complexion.

Even though Puja works to a tight schedule during the week she still allows herself some time to relax at the weekends.  She is inspired by the colours.  She says:

“It gives a great sense of achievement to be able to see the finished product almost instantly just the way you have conceptualised it on paper.”  

Puja’s dream wish and high spirits encouraged her to be fully prepared for any “bumps” in her life.

Even though Puja is ten years on into her fashion career she is still in the process of learning and picking up new techniques.  “One should live for the moment because everyday is a new beginning,” she says.  Each catwalk production is produced with its own creativity and flair therefore every catwalk has its own importance.

The catwalks should all be equally good as each other.  Many factors are needed to produce a perfectly coordinated show in order for the items to be bought by the mass market.  Teamwork is an immense factor needed for the perfect show.  The rest of the factors which add up to this are the ramp, music, lighting, choreography and make-up.  One needs to build strong relations with the models and of course the media to engage with positive feedback from the public.

The one key advice that Puja gives to those wanting to become a fashion designer is that you need a lot of perseverance and desire in the right direction.  Always aim to be a perfectionist, hard working, dedicated and committed to our task. It’s not always the best that matters; as every designer has their own style, it’s how you work and the quality of your products that count.

This is how Puja Nayyar defines fashion, how would you define it?