Punjab fashion institute to expand, offer new courses

Mohali-based NIIFT roped in to make high court's staff uniforms

The officials of the institute said with a retail boom in the country the demand for trained manpower in fashion retail management is growing tremendously. So the institute has decided to introduce a fashion retail management Programme to produce professionally equipped managers for the garment industry.

The institute is also involved in the activities of Khadi and Village Industry Commission and has been doing value additions in the textile manufacturing and designing of KVIC.

"The improvement in the khadi garments has been brought by print ornamentation, dyes, surface treatment and developing new garments. We developed the new techniques and trained the man power of KVIC at various centres", said Vijay Sharma, director of the institute.

The institute provided extensive support to KVIC centres in the production of floor mats at Patti region, near Amritsar border, foot mats in Nakodar and garments in Adampur area.

She added that KVIC has evinced interest of setting up a permanent R&D centre at NIIFT, Mohali.

The Executive Director of NIIFT, Mohali, and Director Industries Punjab, Sanjay Kumar said a separate stream for designing footwear and accessories would be set up in the upcoming building.

The insitute would organise its annual fashion show 'Anukama' to showcase the skillsets of its students. The show is ninth in the row.

Punjab and Haryana High Court staff are set to get a brand new wardrobe with aspiring designers of NIIFT putting their creative brains behind the project.

Authorities of the high court had been approached by the NIIFT to design uniforms for its staff, NIIFT Kumar said here today.

He said the graduating students of the institute were all set to show off their collections at their annual design saga 'anukama 2006' in the city tomorrow.

The show will showcase 55 collections by graduating students of NIIFT and leading models from Delhi will walk the ramp at the event.

'Anukama 2006' is a design collection showcasing three years of training and six months of preparation, he said.

Talking about corporate sponsorships, the director Sharma said the corporate houses in north were not forthcoming to sponsor the students endeavour. Although the institute has 100 per cent placement through campus selection but the concept of corporate social responsibility was in an infant stage in north.

The institute is a registered society with the Government of Punjab. The fixed investment is financed by the state government and the running expenditures are mobilised by the institute through its internal resources.