NIFT launches its own rural based fashion label

Business Standard reports that the National Institute of Fashion Technology has tied up with the Ministry of Rural Development’s Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yogna (SGSY) to launch a fashion label, “i.m.”. Asha Baxi, senior professor and dean of academics at NIFT, said,

“The attempt is to get our budding fashion designers to understand and involve Indian craft and fabric, generate a perpetual employment mode for traditional craftspeople and, finally, of course, establish a sales point that will market the end-product.”

NIFT will retail i.m. products at the Rajiv Gandhi Hasta Kala Bhawan in New Delhi. In this regard, 10,000 craftspeople have been already been identified in 5 states of Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala and West Bengal, which will be handled by NIFT students in Delhi, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Chennai and Kolkata.

Students will take artisans on educational trips to places such as Fab India, anokhi, Dilli Haat, where they can see the various interpretations of their craft. This venture will see an investment of Rs. 3 crore, on training, sourcing material, skill upgradaton, marketing and product development and is likely to change the lives of the over 2,000 craftspeople.

Source: Business Standard