It is a general assumption that fashion shows involve two basic steps: Music and lighting, and Outfits and walking.
But this is a false notion, as a lot of effort and planning is required to execute a successful show. As models, we even take notes to remember different sequences. Sequences are the sub parts of a show.
Despite all the shows that I’ve done, it never occurred to me that even fashion shows are algorithm driven, just like innumerable other tasks in our day to day lives. Only when I was asked if I could come up with an algorithm to govern the process, did it get me thinking.
A fashion show can be analysed as a problem, for which the individual sequences are the sub-problems. Therefore a divide and conquer algorithm can be employed to solve the sequences and put them together to get a solution for the show.
Here, I am taking the example of one of my shows at The Rajasthan Heritage Week for designer Swati Ubroi.
The sequences for this show were divided based on the colour of clothing. The sequence numbers along with the colours are given as follows, and the designer requires this order of sequences to be maintained.
| Sequence | S1 | S2 | S3 |
| Colour | Beige | Red | Blue |
There are 2 main stages of this algorithm:
First, the backstage preparation where the models are lined up according to their sequence and order in which they enter. This order is given by a priority that is assigned to each outfit.
Beige-0 to n/3
Red-0 to n/3
Blue-0 to n/3
Secondly, each ordered sequence is executed one by one.
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Algorithm FashionShow( m[1…n], p[1…n] )
//The algo deals with sorting and following a specific choreography for the show in the video
//Input: Array of all models in the show depicting the colours assigned to them, array of priorities assigned to the respective models
//Output: Execution of the fashion show
j=1; k=n/3; l=2n/3;
for i → 1 to n do
if m[ i ] == Beige //S1 in S
S[ j ] = m[ i ]; //S – array of models in order
O[ j ] = p[ i ]; j++; //O – array of respective priorities
else if m[ i ] == Red
S[ k ] = m[ i ]; //S2 in S
O[ k ] = p[ i ]; k++;
else S[ l ]=m[ i ]; //S3 in S
O[ l ] = p[ i ]; l++;
//S[n] contains all 3 colours: first Beige, then Red, then Blue
O[n] contains their respective priorities
ArrangeOrder(S, P, 1, n/3); //Sort all the priorities ArrangeOrder(S, P, (n/3)+1, 2n/3); of the individual ArrangeOrder(S, P, (2n/3)+1, n); sequences in S
Send (S) ; //Combine the individual ordered sequences and send on stage in order
Algorithm ArrangeOrder( int S[1…n], int P[1…n], int m, int n)
//Algo arranges the models in non increasing order of their outfit priorities, the least number having highest priority by bubble sort
for i→ m to n
for j→ m to n-i-1
if ( P[ j ] > P[ j+1 ] )
P[ j ] = temp; S[ j ] = temp1;
temp = P[ j+1 ]; temp1 = S[ j+1 ];
P[ j+1 ] = P[ j ]; S[ j+1 ] = S[ j ];
return S and P
Algorithm Send( int S[1…n] )
{
Start background music 1 and Lighting 1
for i→ 1 to n
{
S[ i ] enters stage, skirts the ramp and exits;
if ( i == n/3 )
Change to background music 2 and Lighting 2
else if ( i == 2n/3 )
Change to background music 3 and Lighting 3
}
Note: The text in some parts of the algorithm are coloured according to the sequence that is being operated on for more clarity.
Thus the algorithm divides the problem into 3 parts based on colour, sorts each part and combines them to generate the result.
Link for the fashion show video
Post by: Yamini
USN: 1CR15IS117
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