Fashion 2.0

As the creative head of a young design house,Fahd Hussein knew that if he had to reach more buyers across the country...

Written by Anushree Majumdar
August 4, 2009 03:56 AM IST

3 min read

A new design house puts up designs online and lets buyers customise them for clothes and bags

As the creative head of a young design house,Fahd Hussein knew that if he had to reach more buyers across the country,hed have to think of a unique way to showcase the designs. And what could be more effective than Facebook? Hussein,27,and his team of designers at Kolkata-based OnSeed Artist Collective have started the online sale of their designs inspired by Tibetan tankha,Egyptian art,Navajo Indian tribal art,revolutions,urban chaos,contemporary graphics and comic art over Facebook and their own website onseedonline.com. Titled PrePhase,the collection is a first by the design house that is formed by a bunch of 20-somethings. What is novel about the online sale is that it allows you to customise your clothes using their designs. PrePhase is an experiment were trying. It is a system whereby we develop individual pieces of art that can be transferred on to a silhouette of your choice. It is a collaboration between the designer and the person wearing the piece. Five people may have the same design but each piece will be different because it will be customised as per the buyers taste, says Hussein.

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Its a simple,three-step process. One,log on to Facebook and choose designs from the PrePhase collection. Step two is where you can choose the placement of embellishments,pick silhouettes,fiddle with textures and even modify the design. Once that is done,the customised image has to be e-mailed back to the OnSeed team. The key words of the PrePhase collection,as Hussein states,are intricate detailing,bold imagery,a pinch of psychedelia,and a central concept that binds everything together with a healthy dose of fun. Once the buyer is ready with the chosen image and specified changes,OnSeed guarantees the outfits,which are produced on Lycra-enriched cotton,will reach you within two weeks. All the pieces come with flyers,stickers and other freebies and if you dont want an outfit,you can choose the designs for bags,posters and art prints.

The range starts from Rs 800 for posters,while the dresses are priced at Rs 3,500 and the T-shirts and tops are available for Rs 2,500. You can order bags as well for Rs 1,500.

There is only one worry,though. As innovative as the experiment is,Facebook is a public domain and Hussein admits that the designs might not stay entirely exclusive because of piracy issues. Weve decided to take the good with the bad. But we do have people who have bought our clothes from as far away as Portugal and Bolivia,so this was an easy way to get access to all of them at the same time, says Hussein.

Contact: info@onseedonline.com