Fashion design course

Bridging
Imagination
and
Wearability

In the fast-paced 21st century fashion industry, we equip designers through contextual research, proficiency in visualization and fluency with materials.

You learn to overcome challenges through innovative thinking and techniques in an intensive studio based environment, while shaping your personal creative process and style statement.

Course highlights

  • 1/4

Consciously Creative

People and Context

Personalised Processes

Reverse Engineering

At IIAD, we teach our Fashion Design students to be environmentally conscious by building awareness and sensitivity. Our pi-designers develop a strong value system through ethical fashion practices like zero waste pattern cutting and draping, minimal seam construction and upcycling.

IIAD shapes students into contextually aware and ethical designers, who consider the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. You develop a holistic outlook, which helps to address complexities and build conceptually-strong design solutions.

The studio-based projects lay emphasis on embracing your inner voice, motivating a deep exploration of the self. This empowers you to come up with original concepts as you are encouraged to carve a niche for yourself.

Deconstruction of the finished garment forms a significant approach in our teaching methodology. This aids your understanding of how a garment is made from start to finish, by breaking down its components. The idea is to learn about the design and thought process that goes into a garment, from concept through construction to the end product.

COURSE DETAIL

COURSE DETAIL

  • Undergraduate
  • Postgraduate
Foundation is a bridging program, aiding your transition from school to un-school. It provides students a pathway to confidently enter the creative, open-ended, exploratory and experimental environment of design education at IIAD. They acquire a broad spectrum of design skills and build their design vocabulary. After successfully completing the Foundation year, students seamlessly progress to BA (Hons) Fashion Design course.
The first year of the Fashion Design course is an enriching journey of ‘Unpacking the Self’ by diving into the depths of your core essence. You start to express your own unique narratives in the conceptualisation and design of garments. As you foray into the realm of fashion and materials, you will discover the trail from yarn to fabric, and how to manipulate materials to develop interesting surfaces and textures. The body becomes the ‘canvas of exploration’ and students build a sensitive approach towards movement, diversity, body types and genders. As part of the project briefs you also learn fundamental technical skills such as pattern cutting, stitching techniques, and understanding the machine. On completing this year, you will be able to design, construct and finish basic silhouettes.
At the end of this year, your first industry interface will be facilitated with an 8-week Learn On-site internship, which will focus on multidisciplinary learning experiences. Students are encouraged to explore a wide range of avenues within the fashion industry such as textiles, art and design, as per their area of interest.
The second year focuses on an in-depth understanding of forms and structures in relation to the body. You also learn advanced tools and techniques of design, material manipulation and product detailing. Students explore diverse facets of a given theme, researching the history and contemporary context of a garment, and deconstructing it to understand how it is made. Our emphasis on industry experiences takes centre stage through Live Projects and productive liaisons with design professionals and thought-leaders. As you get acquainted with the landscape of the fashion industry you get introduced to professional practices and processes. Working collaboratively with traditional artisans in their habitat under the auspices of a brand will give you a live experience of translating indigenous crafts to a marketable line of wear. Projects on sustainability introduce students to ethical practices, helping them evolve as responsible designers who are equipped to address global concerns.
The 16-week Learn On-site internship is a long-term industry exposure envisaged as the gateway to your professional debut. You get opportunities to work in professional environments and understand the dynamics of organisational set-up. You will gain experience in all aspects of the design process such as concept development, sampling, production, merchandising, marketing, sourcing, analysing trends, surface and print development, quality control, sustainability, range buying and more. IIAD students have secured internships in many leading design studios including 11.11, Levis, Pero, Hemant and Nandita, Suket Dhir, Allen Solly, Ajio, Indigene, Tarun Tahiliani, Rahul Mishra and Eka to name a few.
From ‘Unpacking the self’ to “Repacking the self’, you emerge as a self-reliant designer in the final year. You will drive yourself as an independent thinker and forge professional connections to lead and shape your design practice with ease. At the same time, you build entrepreneurial skills that help translate your ideas into reality. You emerge as a confident, self-aware designer with your own distinct design sensibility. This clarity helps you build a unique niche for yourself and stay at the forefront of your trade. Major Design Project The final year culminates with the Major Design Project which gives you an opportunity to showcase your creativity, individual style and aesthetics as your representation of fashion. You will undertake an intense design process which is more personalised in your final project. You develop your designs, inspired by something close to you that stimulates your creative impulse. Throughout the project, you will take design decisions independently while getting close mentorship by faculty. You will be actively engaged with different components of a design collection, going beyond concept and construction of garments, to work with styling and lookbook photoshoots, planning the final ramp walk show and more.
The first year of the Fashion Design course is an enriching journey of ‘Unpacking the Self’ by diving into the depths of your core essence. You start to express your own unique narratives in the conceptualisation and design of garments. As you foray into the realm of fashion and materials, you will discover the trail from yarn to fabric, and how to manipulate materials to develop interesting surfaces and textures. The body becomes the ‘canvas of exploration’ and students build a sensitive approach towards movement, diversity, body types and genders. As part of the project briefs you also learn fundamental technical skills such as pattern cutting, stitching techniques, and understanding the machine. On completing this year, you will be able to design, construct and finish basic silhouettes.
The year culminates with an 8-week Learn On-site internship which provides students with practical work experience in the fashion industry. We encourage multidisciplinary learning experiences, and students can explore a wide range of avenues within the fashion industry such as textiles, art and design, as per their area of interest. The opportunity to work in professional environments familiarises you with the dynamics of organisational set-up.
In the second year, we expand on ideas of sustainability and focused design research, placing emphasis on reflection and writing of critical essays and logs. This will lead towards creating an assimilated design portfolio and an effective CV, as well as preparing a comprehensive design proposal. The end-of-the-year Major Project, is a culmination of knowledge gained till date, and is based on the specialist design proposal submitted by each student. This final project is geared towards providing the student an opportunity to demonstrate a balance of analytical skills and aesthetic explorations while practicing time management to deliver a polished final outcome. This project requires an advanced design process leading to a personalised creative design expression in the outcome. Over the course of the final project, you will gain clarity in design practice through close mentoring by the faculty. The student has two options in how they approach their final project. You can present a physical project outcome in the form of stitched garments, supported by a research document and media pack. Or, you can submit a thesis document supported by a media pack. Depending on your choice of subject or direction taken in the project, you can present a project outcome that is socially or politically relevant; or, you could focus on a fashion practice or technology to deliver the project appropriately.
The first year of MA Fashion is an intensive preparatory phase that is built to strengthen your fundamentals of design principles and fashion. This year aims to enhance your creative, strategic and practical skills. You will learn the use of drawing, tools, machinery and innovative 3D prototyping as part of a design development process. The first year also lays emphasis on how craft, design and sustainability are closely interwoven. You will gain a comprehensive understanding of the fashion industry enabling you to conduct research, create and execute design ideas. Students who successfully complete the first year, but choose to exit the course at this stage, are awarded a PG Diploma.
The year culminates with an 8-week Learn On-site internship which provides students with practical work experience in the fashion industry. We encourage multidisciplinary learning experiences, and students can explore a wide range of avenues within the fashion industry such as textiles, art and design, as per their area of interest. The opportunity to work in professional environments familiarises you with the dynamics of organisational set-up.
In the second year, we expand on ideas of sustainability and focused design research, placing emphasis on reflection and writing of critical essays and logs. This will lead towards creating an assimilated design portfolio and an effective CV, as well as preparing a comprehensive design proposal. The end-of-the-year Major Project, is a culmination of knowledge gained till date, and is based on the specialist design proposal submitted by each student. This final project is geared towards providing the student an opportunity to demonstrate a balance of analytical skills and aesthetic explorations while practicing time management to deliver a polished final outcome. This project requires an advanced design process leading to a personalised creative design expression in the outcome. Over the course of the final project, you will gain clarity in design practice through close mentoring by the faculty. The student has two options in how they approach their final project. You can present a physical project outcome in the form of stitched garments, supported by a research document and media pack. Or, you can submit a thesis document supported by a media pack. Depending on your choice of subject or direction taken in the project, you can present a project outcome that is socially or politically relevant; or, you could focus on a fashion practice or technology to deliver the project appropriately.

STUDENT WORK

“IIAD has taught me how to think outside the box and has given a girl hailing from a small city, a lot of confidence and exposure to opportunities.”
– Surbhi Sinha, Fashion Design

A glimpse at a complicated silhouette made as part of the transform and restructure design brief.

Exploration through drapes, sketches and patterns with different materials like polyeutherine, latex and fevicol.

A new perspective on Minimalistic Work Wear in light pastel hues.

Fusion Ethnic Wear conceived and designed during the major design project.

Embroidered Jacket made with sustainable material promoting Indian textiles as part of the Fashion Design Programme at IIAD.

Fashion Design students exhibit their graduate collection at the Graduate Show

A satirical depiction of the garments created by a Fashion Design student in the penultimate year of the programme.

success stories

Aditi Ghosh

Fashion Design
INTERNED AT
11:11 By Shani Himanshu
PLACED AT
11:11 By Shani Himanshu
2019 BATCH
Aditi Ghosh

Rashika Ramesh

Fashion Design
INTERNED AT
Pero
PLACED AT
Fabindia Overseas Private Ltd.
2019 BATCH
Rashika Ramesh

Garima Vaid

Fashion Design
INTERNED AT
Ashima Leena
PLACED AT
Orient Craft
2019 BATCH
Garima Vaid

“10 years from now we will be 'The Industry’ and this makes it very important to collaborate with people from various professional backgrounds.”

— Malavika Thampi, Fashion Design

"With the resources that we are provided with and the workshops conducted, I feel that IIAD has prepared me well"

- Diya Singh , Fashion Design

“We see things in detail now; everything is more sensitive, more related to us. We now know how things work. I've become more responsible, more independent after moving to Delhi to pursue my course at IIAD. “

- Arshveen Kaur, Fashion Design

CAREER

What does a
fashion designer do?​
The fashion industry offers a variety of roles and engagements. You could be involved in process-oriented design work like conceptualisation, or in hands-on work with innovative and contemporary materials, fabrics and textiles. You could also be a professional who studies seasons and trends. You may be in a more entrepreneurial position like developing a design range, as well as marketing and selling your brand and products to the end client.

FACULTY

course

leaders

+

Gunjan Arora

Associate ProfessorFashion Design

With nearly 25 working years behind him, Gunjan has practiced design across the genres of mainstream Fashion, Costume design, Textile art and being an Educator . An alumna of NIFT (Delhi), he has had the privilege to parallelly tread various paths that collectively speak about his belief that “design should solve many purposes”.

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IIAD Faculty Gunjan-Arora
+

Saumya Pande

Associate ProfessorFashion Design

With 25 years of experience as a designer and educator, Saumya has advocated slow conscious living and conservation of indigenous cultures in her classroom, at global conferences and as a TEDx speaker too. As the founding course leader of the Fashion department at IIAD, she is committed to creating an inclusive, rich learning environment with diverse viewpoints, talents and experiences.

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IIAD Faculty Saumya-Pandey

course
leaders

+

Saurabh Deo

Associate Professor

Saurabh has been an experienced designer and academician for twenty years,  leading fashion academic programs, with blended (online & f2f) curriculum development & teaching, International university audits - validation & examination process, academic talent-hiring, and staff training. 

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+

Richa Sood

Assistant Professor

Richa Sood has 18 years of experience in Fashion business, with core expertise in garment and print design. She has been consulting as a design head for Nirrammya, a leading brand in the middle east and worked intensively with; Tarun Tahiliani and Rohit Bal. Apart from ready-to-wear, couture and bridal collections, she designed for brands like, Wills Lifestyle, Karmic and Biba, with expertise in handling prestigious clients.

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IIAD Faculty Richa-Sood
+

Shipra Kukreja

Assistant Professor

A strategic thinker and an eco-friendly designer, Shipra Kukreja is best known in the industry for sustainable fashion and ethical design practices in her professional endeavours. In addition to being a NIFT alumna, she holds a Masters’ degree in fashion design from Nottingham Trent University, UK.

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IIAD Faculty Shipra-Kukreja
+

Anupama Datt

Assistant Professor

Founder and Creative Director of Varan Creations, Anupama Datt has over 25 years of experience of working with leading Fashion Houses. She has worked as the Chief / Senior Fashion Designer with premier brands like Meena Bazaar, Zardozi, Kalpana Srijan andSNP Creations. Anupama also works as a Mentor at Intercell and is on the advisory board of the Just Design Institute. She holds a Diploma in Fashion Designing from JDIFT.

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IIAD Faculty - Anupama Datt
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Pragya Sharma

Lecturer

Pragya Sharma has been involved in academics since the past three years, prior to which she was working as a menswear designer in the industry. She was initially trained as an engineer and then moved on to fashion design.

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IIAD Faculty Pragya-Sharma
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Ginu George

Lecturer

She is an alumna of the MA Fashion Technology Programme at the prestigious London College of Fashion. She has worked within the fashion industry both in design and communication for numerous brands in India and the UK, most notably J W Anderson.

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IIAD Faculty Ginu-George

STUDIO

AND RESOURCES

IIAD’s purpose-built campus aims to meet the dynamic learning-teaching needs of its progressive pedagogy and curriculum. The environment’s adaptive spaces include studios, digital labs and 3D material workshops, which are all designed to facilitate seamless multidisciplinary collaborations and exchanges.

Exploring Denim under the guidance of co-founder of Korra Jeans and 11.11/eleven eleven, Himanshu Shani.

The Denim Project: Exploring Denim as a versatile fabric in designing garments under the mentorship of Himanshu Shani, co-founder of Korra Jeans and 11.11/eleven eleven.  

The Fashion Design studio provides students with spacious work stations and exhibition spaces.

The Fashion Design studio is designed in such a way that they provide students with spacious workstations for their projects while at the same time they can be converted into exhibition spaces. 

The fashion studio provides ample space for exploring materials and fabrics in the process of creating garments.

Students are encouraged to explore and experiment. The fashion studio provides ample space for them to work with materials and fabrics in the process of creating garments. 

STORIES