Fashioning a lifestyle

Updated on: Tuesday, December 07, 2010

If you have a feel for colours, can visualise textures, create blends, set trends and believe that models will walk the ramp adorning your creations — fashion designing is the career for you. However, fancying a career in fashion isn’t enough. Not everything is as glamorous and as shimmering as it may appear. There is cut-throat competition and only the best can make a mark. Originality, creativity, and fashion consciousness are a few vital ingredients but what can give you that winning edge is a study programme from a good fashion school.

NIFT, or the National Institute of Fashion Technology, needs little introduction. The alma mater of many reputed fashion designers in the country, the institute has programmes from fashion design to leather, accessory, apparel and textile design to even fashion communication and fashion management. NIFT has a slew of courses at both the Bachelors and Masters levels. Though the Bachelors programmes have an upper age limit of 23, there is no age bar for postgraduate programmes. And NIFT offers a substantial fee subsidy to students from the lower income bracket.

NIFT is holding its annual entrance test at the national level on February 20, 2011. With 13 NIFT centres in India and one international centre, 10 programmes and approximately 2100 seats — the competition is certainly going to be tough. The test for the undergraduate design programmes will include the GAT (General Ability Test), CAT (Creative Ability Test) and Situation Test. However, apparel production will have MAT (Managerial Ability) instead of CAT and a Situation Test.

Similarly there are a few differences between the tests for postgraduate programmes. These will comprise GAT, GD and an interview. Apart from this, the design course will include one more paper of CAT and the management and technology courses will have MAT instead.

These sets of tests aren’t too difficult to ace. GAT will include analytical ability, logical ability, communication ability and English comprehension. The mathematics part contains questions based on your Class X syllabus. You need to careful in the domain knowledge section where questions will be about the industry — both Indian and international. So, brush up your GK and go through a few serious fashion magazines. CAT is about showing your creative skills. A good mix of colours and an aesthetic touch will earn you points.

After you have sailed through these two parts, you will be notified about the Situation Test which is held at NIFT’s centres. You have to put your best creative foot forward and create an artefact from materials given to you, in two hours flat. That’s not all — you will also have to write about your creation, describing its significance. And everything will be assessed: right from your base-work to the drafts to the designing to the final execution. In short, if you spent most of your time sketching garments for models when your friends were busy playing computer games, then it’s time you design your success story. All the best!

For more details, log on to www.nift.ac.in

ADMISSION CALENDAR
Last date of submission: January 10, 2011
Written examination: February 20, 2011
Declaration of result: March end, 2011
Situation Test/GD/Interviews:
April – May, 2011
Declaration of final result: May end, 2011

Fashioning a lifestyle

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