New Delhi: India has arrived. Traditionally better known for its textile exports and manufacturing capabilities than the verve and sophistication of its designers, India has emerged in recent years as a contender on the global fashion scene.
Design names such as Sabyasachi, Rohit Bal, Abu Jani, Sandeep Khosla and Manish Malhotra have transformed the industry, which today hosts four fashion weeks a year between Delhi and Mumbai, while retail and luxury sales are booming, driven by a fashion-conscious middle class.
Competitive edge: Students at Nift, Delhi. At the forefront of fashion teaching in the country, Nift offers a variety of career options for aspirants. Photo: Madhu Kapparath / Mint
A key factor behind the turning point of the industry was the establishment of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift) in 1986. Set up under the aegis of the ministry of textiles, the school was created to inject home-grown creativity into the garment making industry which, despite bringing in foreign exchange revenues through exports, was lacking in originality and innovative design.
“The growth of contemporary Indian fashion can be traced to 1986,” says Rathi Vinay Jha, director general of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI). “Nift was established for training students in design, management and technology, paving the way for Indian designers to take leadership in the emerging global scenario.”
The school was the brainchild of Pupul Jayakar, known as India’s “czarina of culture”, who was then adviser to then prime minister Indira Gandhi on cultural and heritage matters; today, it regards itself as a benchmark in the industry to which other fashion institutions aspire.
“Pupal Jayakar wanted the school to be very professional and run to international standards,” says Asha Baxi, dean of studies at Nift. “As a result, because India had no experience in fashion education, we partnered with New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). They were very involved with the industry, and we signed a five-year agreement with them.”
Although Nift sees itself as its own competition, and relies on advisers and faculty for regular critiques of the curriculum, it shares the fashion design space with a host of new arrivals. Other institutions active in training today include Sophia College in Mumbai, Pearl Academy of Fashion, the National Institute of Design and Mod’Art International, a Paris-based school opening up in Mumbai with plans to leverage its international experience and context and offer students access to brands and thinking from abroad.
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