By IANS
New Delhi : The sponsor of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), the ITC group, has joined hands with two new fashion institutes to hone budding talents and offer them jobs.
“It is very important to nurture young designers as today’s aspirants are creative experts of tomorrow,” Atul Chand, vice president (marketing) of ITC’s Lifestyle Retailing, told IANS.
Chand said the country’s fashion industry is maturing and with every passing year it is becoming more responsive towards budding talents, welcoming them with open arms.
“We have joined hands with the Pearl Academy of Fashion and National Institute of Design (NID) to nourish and recognise future designers,” he added.
The group launched a talent hunt contest “The Debut” late last year but only students of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) were allowed to take part in it.
The contest is a rigorous three-round process that evaluates collections designed by participants on the basis of design, technical and commercial viability.
The contest whittles down participants from 200 in the preliminary round to 45 in the regional round and 10 at the national level.
Finally, three winners are conferred awards at the country’s biggest fashion event WIFW, a job offer from the group and an opportunity to visit international fashion fair “Pret-a-Porter” in Paris.
A panel of representatives from Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) judges the contestants.