Fashion as a Career avenue in India

Looking for a Career Option in the Field of Fashion ? This section features Fashion as a career option, elaborated with reference to the job profile, personality traits required, the courses and training involved, premier institutions and future prospects.

India which has always been a centre for the textile and garment trade is also growing into a centre of innovation in garment and accessory design. Fashion technology has a wide scope for choosing a career. Now the fashion industry has become so specialized that it encompasses a vast field of studies in design, concept management, design production management, quality control, planning, fabric design, printing, fashion accessory design, fashion merchandising, textile science, colour mixing, marketing and so on. The primary areas of work in the fashion industry are market research, designing and manufacturing of garments and textiles. Fashion design is the most important area of work in fashion industry. Designing involves creating original designs after studying the changing trends of the market i.e market research. It has various fields of specialisation like garments, footwear, jewellery and even luggage. It is a challenging field as it requires the coordination of various jobs, in small concerns it is usually a one man show but in big organisations the jobs are specialised and allotted to different people. Manufacturing involves purchasing textiles and fabrics required for the design and making the garment according to the master pattern. Manufacturing process requires employment of a large number of trained personnel

Fashion technology education is designed to train students in the core garment manufacturing technology. The basic inputs are in areas of design and management with main emphasis on technology helping students become aware of Information Technology (IT) and its application in the fashion industry. Higher level programmers in fashion technology are designed to train students to excel in understanding and integrating the areas of technology and management for appral manufacturing.


Personality Traits


Fashion designer should have self-confidence, ambition, adaptibility, an eye for detail, flair for anticipating new trends and exceptional business flair or unlimited capital. For the fashion designer certain other traits are-manual dexterity, visual imagination, sense of colour, a photographic memory for details, sufficient technical ability to grasp the intricacies of cutting, creative genius, ability for working in a group and willingness to do routine boring work during training period,ability to draw beautifully is not necessary, but basic aptitude for visual expression-drawing, painting, exploring colour and texture is important for fashion designing.


Courses/Training


The courses include Graduate, Post graduate, Certificate and Diploma in the following areas:

* Accessory designing and fashion designing
* Garment Manufacturing Technology
* Apparel marketing and Merchandising
* Leather and Garment Design and Technology
* Knitwear Design and Technology
* Textile Design and Development
* Fashion Journalism and Presentation


Training

The training also includes internship in an organization which gives the students industry functions. Training is usually imparted keeping in mind the demands of the international market. Most training institutes have the latest technologies including laboratories, workshops, design and research centers, libraries, computers and information about the latest development in the industry. Prominent institutes in Fashion Technology are National institute of Fashion technology (NIFT), National Institute of Design (NID), International Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi (IIFT); IEC School of Art and Fashion, New Delhi; Indian Institute of Art and Fashion Technology (IIAFT), Mumbai; Pearl Academy of fashion, New Delhi; J.D Institute of fashion Technology, New Delhi.


Eligibility


Minimum eligibility for the Undergraduate course in this field is 10+2 with 50% marks and for Post Graduate courses graduation. In the prominent institutes, admission is strictly on merit- through written test, situation test, group discussion and interview. These courses are aimed at understanding concepts related to costume, jewellery, leather goods and many other similar products where fashion matters.
While 10+2 is sufficient for Accessory designing and Fashion Designing, Graduates are preferred for other courses.


Placements And Prospects


The candidates after successful completion of the course can find excellent placements in garment, leather and jewellery industry as merchandising executives, fashion designers, illustrators, fashion co-coordinators, etc. Export houses, textile mills, garment store chains, boutiques, leather companies, jewellery houses, fashion show organisers also look for such candidates. Fashion professionals are working on their own or they attached to fashion houses or garment export units, to the film industry,to the theatre or to electronic media.

Flairs is an important quality for professionals in fashion industry , whether it is in discipline of design or in marketting, fashion forecasting, organising and staging of shows, fashion coordination, communication or manegement.

The fashion industryis full of glamour but there is a lot of hard work. it offers tremendous creative satisfaction, frame and money too. Many successful professionals in the industry have come up without formal training but training is important today as the business becomes competitive day by day. success in the world of fashion is linked to flair, intitiative and enterprise.


Remuneration


The best bet for a beginner is to get associated with an established designer or design house, and begin with doing the menial work. Most trainee designers get a stipend of around Rs. 4000, but what you can learn in terms of working knowledge is immense. Working as a part of a design team fetches around Rs.12,000 a month.