She was born and raised in Dubai and now Deeya Nanda is all set to make her debut as a designer at the Dubai Fashion Week.
Her autumn-winter 2008 collection, titled, Malice in Wonderland, combines childlike playfulness and a dark brooding look to offer striking ensembles with a stamp of individuality.
Deeya has always been interested in art and design and graduated from Central St Martins and the London College of Fashion, where she specialised in surface texturing and ornamentation of textiles.
She further honed her skills through internships with Yves Saint Laurent and Oswald Boateng, who taught her the art of tailoring and construction. She also did a stint with Bollywood designer Vikram Phadnis before returning to Dubai three years ago.
Starting her career as a designer and buyer for Splash, Deeya went on to establish herself as a much sought after visualiser and stylist for TV commercials and advertising campaigns.
"The success of my designs at Splash and my fashion layouts gave me the confidence to create my own collection. And there is no better place than my own city to launch my label," says Deeya.
She finds inspiration from her own fantasies and phobias. After researching the season's trends, Deeya likes to make up stories and characters, and the creates garments around those characters. Alice in Wonderland, her favourite childhood story was a natural choice for her first collection.
Wonderland
"The garments are inspired by carnivals, ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, clowns, dolls and carousels, but with a dark, sinister look. This is more of an adult wonderland but with a childlike quality reflecting our hidden fears and phobias as well as the child within every adult," says the young designer.
Original
Using her knowledge of surface texturing, Deeya has designed original fabrics and prints for her collection. And her tailoring skills are evident in the well cut tartan and lace skirts, hooded dresses, faux fur jackets, sexy corsets, knitted shrugs and romantic gowns made from 20 metres of silk. "Youngsters in Dubai tend to blindly follow trends or certain brands.
But my collection is about being original. It is for people who dare to believe in themselves," she says. "I have given a lot of thought to the styling of my show and even created an original music track to complement the collection," she adds.
After her debut at Dubai Fashion Week, Deeya would like to do more shows in the UAE. But her sights are set much further. "Eventually I would like to be based in Europe and design for an international clientele," she says.
Claim to fame
Deeya Nanda was recently invited to style a shoot for a project by Tatweer at Universal Studio in Orlando with Steven Spielberg. She worked with Spielberg's team to design contemporary Arabian ensembles for a futuristic vision of Dubai.
Dubai-based designer Deeya Nanda will present her debut autumn-winter 2008 collection at the Isla Moda Dubai Fashion Week at 7pm on March 22.
