Afsana Ferdousi in Aspara Fashion Week

The global fashion arena is brimming with vivacity as the eighth season of Aspara Fashion Week, a project that was initiated in early 2017 by one of the world's most renowned designers, Aidarkhan Kaliyev was held during 7-10 October, 2021. Given the current circumstance, this was the first virtual rendition of the international fashion show.

One of the motives of Aspara Fashion Week is to showcase the fashion scene of various countries under one platform with participation from several countries. This year, 11 eminent fashion designers from Bangladesh, who are also part of Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh (FDCB) received the opportunity to feature their collection, among whom Afsana Ferdousi was one.

Afsana Ferdousi is a promising and rising fashion designer of Bangladesh who takes inspiration from our tradition and heritage and incorporates modernism in her designs. Throughout 11 years of her dazzling career as a fashion designer, she has represented Bangladesh in several international fashion exhibitions including Aspara Fashion Week.

This year's theme for Aspara Fashion Week was to represent the heritage of the designer's respective country through attire while keeping sustainability and ethical fashion in mind. For Afsana Ferdousi, this was nothing new as sustainability and heritage have always been deeply etched in her fashion philosophy, and also reverberated in her collection for the fashion show.

"As a designer, I mainly work with fusion designs, where a blend between eastern and western fashion is evident. My line-up of dresses included pleated pants and tops, V-neck long dress, A-line dress, midi dress, and jumpsuit with frill details while accentuating the sleeves, which is my signature style," stated Afsana.  

While the style ensemble may seem westernised, Afsana Ferdousi ensured Bangladesh was represented in her assemblage in multifaceted ways. Nakshi kantha, which is our heritage and pride is a style statement of the designer, and all the thread work was done in this form. Apart from the attires, every accoutrement featured was made with jute including bags, shoes, and hair accessories, which is another representation of our heritage. 

As for the collection itself, it was titled "autumn wrapped in happiness." Bangladesh is also known as the country with six seasons, and our autumn is different from elsewhere. Autumn for us is not only gloomy skies and the slow onset of chill in the air, but is also about happiness, white clouds, catkin flowers, and joy. Every collection of Afsana Ferdousi weaves a story and autumnal glory was the one behind this collection.

The shades of light to dark blue used for fabric represented the blue skies throughout the day while the white nakshi kantha thread work weaved not only patterns but our pastoral beauty – mud houses, boats, rivers, water lilies, flowers, fish, and birds.

"My inspiration usually comes from poems, folklore, art, history, mythological tales, and nature. This time, it was deeply focused on nature," shared Afsana. 

Through her participation in Aspara Fashion Week, Afsana Ferdousi did not only portray Bangladeshi fashion on an international scale, but also composed the story of our heritage, culture, and tradition to the global audience.

Photo: Uturn Production

Model: Maria, Hira, Mili, Tania, Efa, Nazia

Wardrobe: Afsana Ferdousi

Make-up: Orko

Co-ordination: Sonia Yeasmin Isha