Soaking Inspired Fashion Student's Weather Watch Website
1 June 2012
Bhavna Shukla's website will link daily weather reports for a person's area with advice on what to wear for different occasions
Bhavna's work highlights the diverse areas of fashion our students can specialise in
”Fiona Hawthorne, Senior Lecturer BA (Hons) Fashion Studies degree course
Getting caught in the rain is usually more annoying than inspiring - but a University of Derby student is using the experience to start a fashion advice website.
Bhavna Shukla, a final year BA (Hons) Fashion Studies student, will launch her 'Fashion Forecast' website www.fashion-forecast.co.uk on Thursday 7 June. The new business and final year project will link daily weather reports for a person's area with advice on what to wear for different occasions, look at upcoming fashion trends and what celebrities are wearing.
The website's launch day coincides with two fashions shows on 7 June - at 1.30pm and 7.30pm, at Derby's Assembly Rooms - when hundreds of final year Fashion Studies students' designs will be seen by the public, industry professionals, and school and college students.
Tickets, priced from £3 to £15 VIP ones, are available through Derby Live box office on 01332 255800.
Commenting on her 'weather website' Bhavna, 27, of Normanton, Derby, said: "The idea came to me after I went into town just wearing light clothing and got absolutely drenched when it began to rain. I thought then how useful it would be to have a website that could tie weather updates and fashion advice together and, because there was nothing out there, I decided to create one myself."
When live the free website service will ask users to enter their postcode to get the weather report for that day. By then filling in their name, age, preferred fashion style (classic, glam or casual for example) and what they're going to be doing (attending a wedding or job interview, perhaps) the website can give style suggestions.
Bhavna added: "I've also included upcoming trends, for autumn and winter 2012, and 'Celebrity Styles'. At the moment the website will be aimed at women but I am hoping to extend the service to also include menswear."
The website was designed by Anup Saund of In Sky Design and photographs on it taken by her friend Katie Fearne. Bhavna's family have helped with the set-up costs for the website and she is hoping to attract fashion houses to advertise on it.
Fiona Hawthorne, Senior Lecturer for the University's BA (Hons) Fashion Studies degree course, said: "Bhavna's work highlights the diverse areas of fashion our students can specialise in.
"They gain experience in chosen areas of the industry, enabling them to focus on gaps in the market. Bhavna has certainly used her initiative with this website; as we could all benefit from knowing what to wear, whatever the weather."
Bhavna's work and the fashion shows are part of the University'sannual Degree Shows - running from today,Friday 1 June 1 to 12 June and entitled 'Odyssey' - where free public displays of work by students completing visual communications, film, photography, textiles, product design, architecture, fine art and many other degree courses are held at the University's Markeaton Street and Britannia Mill sites, in Derby.
For more information on the Degree Shows see University website www.derby.ac.uk/degreeshow
Media requiring more information should contact Anne Wake in the University Press & PR Office on 01332 591187 or email a.wake@derby.ac.uk
