NIFT's new chairman: We need to make better choices
Preserve the past, shape the present and predict the future. It’s vital in shaping any structure, be it creative, economic or cultural. India clearly needs this in every sector, by idea, approach and practice. The Indian fashion market is growing everyday in many directions.
The craft, the textile traditions and the fashion business that India has to offer is remarkable. The foundations of it, the fashion schools, offer the platform to learn and explore the realm of craft and design. It needs equal support and attention from the government with changing times and needs of the society and economy.
The latest development on that front was beyond my understanding. Former cricketer and two-time BJP MP Chetan Chauhan has been appointed as the chairperson of the National Institute of Fashion Technology and he claims that he will spend 60 per cent of the time in the DDCA (Delhi and District Cricket Association), 20 per cent at NIFT and 20 per cent in his business.
Does something as important as the fashion industry deserve only part-time attention? A structure and a business of top priority will get 20 per cent of the chairperson's attention and Delhi cricket will get thrice the attention!
How about someone for the position who is somehow related to the subject of fashion and craft? Fashion and the related craft industry is the second largest employment sector in this country after agriculture. It employs a lot of people and has made India proud globally.
Looking at the potential fashion market and tradition in India, I would hope for a rational decision to be taken as far as appointment to such an important position as that of NIFT chairperson is concerned. I don’t know Chauhan personally and I don’t know much about his potential. Maybe he is a good administrator and he would do wonders for the institution but what’s appalling is his part-time availability.
Fashion is a global phenomenon. It is an industry worth trillions of dollars; maybe more than India’s GDP. We need to look at the structure of it. The administration should support the structure. The situation of fashion education in this country is pathetic.
 |
| Chetan Chauhan. |
We need proper guidance; we need someone who realises the need for it. The understanding of fashion in this country, the course structures and the implementation of ideas really needs attention. Fashion is not just about glamour, ramp shows, looking good and seeking approval. It’s a way of life and a culture in its own. I do not doubt what a person has to offer and what plans he has to work for an institution. He has to become a part of it; he has to know the subject, understand it, work internally as well as externally on it.
Potentially, regarding the "Make in India" initiative, because of rich crafts we can become one of the global superpowers in terms of luxury fashion for global consumption apart from doing well in terms of home-grown fashion labels.
We have a lot to offer in terms of raw materials, manpower, handicraft traditions, skills and ideation. We need responsible platforms for fashion education is terms of design, production, and communication. A chairperson will have enough power to change the face of an institution for good. It is very crucial as the future of this growing industry lies in his hands.
Fashion is not simply a form of entertainment. It is a serious profession. If we compare ourselves to the fashion schools across the globe, we are way behind. We need full-time dedication towards it if we want to stand out and have a secured space in the global market. The quality NIFT held in the 1990s was quite remarkable.
We haven’t even been able to maintain that quality. We haven’t learned from our mistakes and we are still repeating them. Just because a wrong choice has never been challenged, it doesn’t mean that it’s right. Clothing and textile is something we cannot do without.
It’s a need, apart from being a representation of your culture and roots. Why do we fail to understand that it is a significant part of the economy? The eminent personalities who acquire these positions don’t have an employment issue.
If it is just an honorary position, why do we even need this in our system? Why don’t we focus more on improving the education system, execution of ideas and technology to understand and accept fashion in a better way? When a position, as important as this is created, it has to serve the purpose. Are we really doing that? Are we even looking at what we want to become 20 years down the line?
Politics is something that is present everywhere, in everything. We cannot do away with it. The question is that why we don’t use it to make improvements and develop something that could become a benchmark of skill and creativity.
What deserves attention is the salary structures of the faculty, what they need to teach and how they need to teach. Not to bound them by rules of retirement. They should be allowed to teach till they can and want to. The course structures in our fashion schools aren’t even progressing with time, forget about being ahead of time.
We need someone who understands what Indian craft is achieving now and what dreams we have for the future. You cannot get away by saying that you don’t know much about the subject but you like to dress neatly. We are looking at the future, what we will have in the next 50 years as art and expertise.
The decision makers clearly need to decide and give due importance to find solutions. We have designers across the world working till the age of 85. Why do we have to retire our best faculty at the age of 60? There has to be a balance, there has to be logic as far as these decisions are concerned. I hope we make better choices in the future.
(As told to Srishti Jha.)