The Apparel Design Programme at NID
The Textile Design programme ,one of  NID’s strongholds in design education, was started in 1968 and over the years has grown and evolved in response to the needs of the industry. The institute’s emphasis on integrated learning called for the need to extend the application of textiles into a range of products, garments being the predominant one. The Apparel Design discipline at N ID was thus born commencing postgraduate. Both the Textile and Apparel Design disciplines at NID are highly interactive and stand to complement each other by synthesizing their expertise and rendering a convergent approach to learning
The Apparel Design Programme offered at NID is generalist in nature. It accords a broad-based grounding in design fundamentals, in addition to the knowledge, skills and exposure base to build the students’ design competence, to prepare them to creatively and effectively deal with a variety of situations in the industry by including a professional attitude. The programme extends itself much beyond fashion encapsulating diverse aspects of apparel, and concerns itself primarily with clothing for the home market and for export, functional and protective clothing for specific tasks, and costumes for film and theatre. It is therefore referred to as Apparel Design Prgramme at NID
Apparel Design requires an understanding of woven and nonwoven materials to be converted into garments to cater to the aesthetic, functional ad socio-phycho-cultural needs of the users. The students of Apparel Design therefore must acquire the sensitivity and expertise to deal with design problems in any area of clothing. The programme is offered at the Advanced Entry Level to candidates hailing from diverse academic backgrounds. The aim of the curriculum is to acknowledge these and build on the cross disciplinary backgrounds. This is practical inputs, and design projects supplemented by visits to production units, marketing events and extensive field experience in an industrial situation
The programme focuses on building conceptual capabilities, skills of visualization and actualization of concepts into prototypes by providing significant exposure and hands-on experience in all aspects of Apparel Design. Inputs are given in drawing and illustration, color ad composition, sewing techniques, introduction to textiles, construction of fabrics, draping and flat pattern making, knitting and knitwear design, accessory design and introduction to CAD. The elementary stage of the curriculum lays emphasis on imbibing basic design sensibilities, building a logical and systematic thought process to solve design problems and developing the rudimentary skills of the students to enable them to undertake simple design projects. As the programme further unfolds in the subsequent semesters, the inputs assume complex dimensions while aiming to enhance the student’s design capabilities.
Theoretical inputs in History of Costume&Fashion, and Science and Liberal Arts from an integral component of the curriculum to help the students develop a wider World view and a dynamic perspective, whereas a module on Design Management strengthens awareness and understanding of the management implications of design practice. The curriculum provides for department as well as institutional elective drawing inputs from multi-disciplines to enrich learning.
The highlight of the programme is learning through projects wherein hypothetical or real-life situations provide a focus and context for problem solving. The curriculum requires exposure to designing clothing in the context of production, technology, markets and environment. The first two design projects focus on exploring and nurturing the students’ creative potential vis-à-vis generation ideas, exploring and examining conventional as well as unconventional materials and methods, and applying them to clothing for a specific target audience.
The ensuing design project, essentially a craft documentation project focuses on an in-depth investigation of the traditional clothing of a region or community by research and field study, to grain insight into its rich cultural context while providing a tremendous knowledge base. The fourth and final project concerns itself with the design of functional wear or protective clothing employing a systems approach. This is accomplished by a thorough examination of the users’ tasks in a given environment while concentrating on the aspects of aesthetics, function, ergonomics, technology and means of production. The formal inputs of the curriculum culminate in a 24-week diploma project, the final test of students’ design competence wherein they undertake a real-life design development or research project in the industry, the brief of the sponsor company forming the basis of the project