Meet Doyel Joshi, January ’14 Student of the Month

Earlier this academic year, our Fashion School Student Council put a Student of the Month program in place. Faculty have the chance to nominate exemplary students, those who have gone above and beyond and really stand for something unique and different in our community.

For the coming Spring 2014 semester, due to a more than positive response, we will be introducing you to not just one, but two BFA Seniors, who have been selected as Students of the Month. We like to share our superstars and hope you enjoy meeting them.

Q:  What is your name, or any nicknames you go by.
– My name is Doyel G Joshi. I go by El for Starbucks purposes.

 

Q: Where are you from?
– I come from India. But I believe there is more to that question. When my parents were courting and there were no phones, my father wrote to my mother “I am a traditional person with a modern approach” I think that’s exactly where I come from.

Q: What brought you to Parsons?
-I think it was the most natural thing, when I decided to give vent to my creativity, it all fell into place and I knew instantly there is no place else I’d rather be.

Q: What special courses are you taking?
-I have a degree in English and Psychology and my inspirations are more philosophical than physical, I try to feed that by taking courses such as Nudes History, Sociology and Philosophy. Consequently I have fallen in love with the technicality and tradition of pattern and garment making, I have Couture Techniques and Pattern Making classes to thank for that. It builds a bridge from a beautifully written page by Nabokov to the pattern of my garment.

Q: Why do you think you were selected as Parsons School of Fashion Student of the month ?
– Let me start by saying that I am extremely humbled by this honour. As an investigator of the human condition, I find most satisfaction in being unapologetically honest to find the most original design I can produce. I never look at fashion blogs or wake up to WWD, I have found it to interfere with my creative process. Design when its path breaking isn’t about giving people what they want, It is creating what you want and waiting for people to covet it. That is the difference between an artist and a fabricator. Artists don’t cater to a market, they create an audience for their wears. Realizing the risk of failure it entails, I strive to achieve that and hence I am humbled to be appreciated for the same.

Q: If you could offer one piece of advice to an incoming student, what would that be?
-If you have a voice and design is your calling, this is the best place you can be. It is instrumental in preparing you for the world and your chances at shaping it, I reckon you utilise everything this school has to offer and enjoy the journey simultaneously.

Q: What is your instagram handle?
– Instagram @doyeljoshi

Q: What are you going to be doing over the weekend?
-I am spending it at my Gurus Ashram in India with my family. It is a scenic meditative place and I happen to have a thing for cows.

Q: How do you describe your experience so far as a Parsons student?
– It has been a bitter sweet melody. It has enriched me and taught me more than I expected to learn only during class, most importantly about myself. Given me the privilege of meeting people with strong individual voices. I have learned to romance every assignment, every late night, every cut and bruise, literally and metaphorically.

Q: What is one of the most important things you have learned/ experienced at Parsons ?
– The emphasis on finding a design principle that works in the real world without compromising your aesthetic. The beauty of the human body is that it hasn’t a single muscle which doesn’t serve its purpose, that there is not a single line wasted, that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life he has to live in it. If we are able to create that with other things, phones, homes, clothes, relationships even, it would all play in perfect rhythm. Parsons has taught me to play and listen.

Q: What keeps you motivate when there is too much work load?
– I have found that compassion is really the only thing that keeps me from exhaustion. If I am working on something I feel deeply passionate about the nights don’t seem as long. Also, sincerity and time management with your favourite cuppa coffee go a long way.