Fashion alumni’s lockdown designs go global

A fashion collection made during lockdown has propelled Kangan Institute alumni Indy Davy on to the international stage, with her  designs featured in UK-based Dreamingless magazine.

Indy, who is currently pursuing a fashion degree, said the outfits were created during Melbourne’s lockdown last year and formed part of her graduate collection at Kangan Institute. 

“I created the collection at home in lockdown at the end of 2020 which taught me a lot about being resourceful,” she said.

One of the biggest challenges included finding the right fabric in her chosen colour palette while shops were closed, which Indy resolved through a process of creative experimentation.

“I bought transparent PVC and dyed it at home to the bright pink that my collection featured,” she said.

“It took a lot of experimentation to get the correct colour and the amount of PVC I had to dye made it a difficult task. In time I learnt that boiling PVC for hours in polyester dye would eventually pierce the fabric and result in the colour I wanted.”

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Indy worked on her kitchen floor making patterns, the only space in her home large enough to create 1.5-metre-long sleeves for her coat, and sizing garments against her body in place of a mannequin.

“This in itself was a challenge as I had to put a garment on, pin it, take it off, alter it, put it on and repeat the process,” she said.

Indy’s hard work and resourcefulness paid off – her collection was selected for the 2020 Melbourne Fashion Week Virtual Student Runway which subsequently sparked a feature in Dreamingless magazine. 

“Stylist, Mia Romaro, reached out to me via Instagram after seeing my collection in Melbourne Fashion Week and asked to shoot the collection. Mia organised the whole thing including the talent team and a photographer,” said Indy.

The photos were submitted to Dreamingless and selected for publishing in the bi-monthly magazine’s May/June 2021 edition.

Also awarded Kangan Institute’s 2021 Outstanding Award for Diploma of Fashion and Merchandising earlier this year, Indy said the magazine feature is another highlight in her journey towards becoming a fashion designer.

“I am ecstatic to have my graduate collection featured in a magazine,” she said.

“It feels like the first step in my professional fashion career and such a huge achievement. It was the best reward I could have asked for after the struggles of creating the collection from home during a global pandemic.”

Kangan Institute’s fashion design lead educator Vicki Nicola said Indy was an outstanding student while studying the Advanced Diploma of Applied Fashion Design and Merchandising where she produced a wide range of designs featuring various fabrics, self-designed accessories and a local artist collaboration.     

“Indy has been an exceptional fashion design student throughout her course at Kangan Institute. She remained productive even during the challenging periods of lockdown in 2020 and 2021, drawing upon her inner talents and resources to complete her collection. She has been an amazing mentor and inspiration to her classmates,” said Ms Nicola.

“Indy’s work reflects a distinct design aesthetic and it is outstanding that her designs were selected for the Dreamingless feature.” 

Learn more about Kangan Institute’s fashion courses here.