NIFD students call Sena to find fault but none turn up

‘‘It wasn’t just a fashion show. It was the beginning of our career as fashion designers which they have ruined,’’ Juli Shah, an aspiring designer who says she had worked for six months and spent Rs 10,000 on her collection ‘‘Flower Fantasy’’, said. Her dress was decked up with fresh flowers and leaves, but it never made it to the ramp. Models Katrina Kaif and Aditi Govitrikar were to don her clothes and walk the ramp. ‘‘But it didn’t happen and we lost a great chance. All because of Shiv Sena’s doing,’’ Shah said.

Shaken, but not set back in their aspirations, these students put up a clothes’ exhibition at their institute on Yagnik Road. They also invited Shiv Sainiks for the exhibition, but no one turned up. ‘‘What’s wrong with this dress? We want an answer from Shiv Sena,’’ a student, who had displayed a dress based on the theme of a banyan tree, said. Some students modelled a few dresses for the invitees. But the glitz of the ramp was missing.

‘‘They have ruined our chance of a lifetime. When will these models present our dresses again?’’ Ritesh Chauhan, another student, echoed. Now the students have to make do with designerwear hanging in their classrooms. The disappointment is writ large on their faces. ‘‘Our portfolio won’t any longer be as attractive,’’ Harpit Nanda, a student, said.