Step into the fashion world

The JD Institute of Fashion Technology (JDIFT) was established in Mumbai in 1988 and subsequently in Delhi in the year 1992, to offer programmes in fashion design and technology. According to the executive director, JDIFT, R C Dalal, "We have over 19 centres in India and abroad. In Delhi only, we have seven centres catering to almost 900 students, which shows the trust reposed us on us by students and their parents." Most of JDIFT centres worked under the franchisee model system and follow JDIFT guidelines, while offering our courses, he said.
At present, JDIFT offers 15 programmes in various fields of design and the lifestyle industry.These are fashion design; CAD CAM; fashion illustration; fashion business management; fashion merchandising; garment export management; jewellery designing; interior designing; fashion photography; visual merchandising; fashion journalism, among others.
"As of now, fashion education has become a fad with students as well as parents, as now they have realised that one can make out a good career in it," Dalal pointed out. He was of the opinion that increasing awareness brought about by the media and a fashion-conscious class coupled with a lot of multinationals coming into the Indian market had given a fillip to the fashion industry and thereby to the need for industry-relevant fashion education too.
Dalal remarked that JDIFT students were involved in working in niche areas such as ''styling'' assignments for television channels like MTV and Channel V. "This is a comparatively new area in fashion. For styling assignments one has to combine different visual and aesthetic elements to come out with the right effect," Dalal exclaimed.
Speaking on the infrastructure available at the institute, Dalal said: "We provide students with the state-of-the-art facilities; labs and creative space so that they can come up with their own thing- something which is original."
According to Dalal, "JDIFT has become the first Asian fashion institute to introduce a full-fledged specialisation in ''window dressing''. The course focuses on creative and strategic aspects of window dressing in order to develop professionals with a clear marketing vision as well as creativity and lateral thinking for effective implementation of a design, keeping in view the environment, space and product, to give a holistic approach to the visual merchandising concept."
JDIFT had excellent relations with the industry which held it in good stead with regard to the placement of students, Dalal pointed out. He elaborated that the institute''s students were involved in various industry-related projects, like doing projects with the mall chain ''Lifestyle'' and ''Ebony'', where their work involved conceptualising and executing the project. He added, "This is again a niche area to work in, where students can earn up to Rs 20,000 per window."