 |
| Ms Archna Surana, Founder and Director, Arch Academy of Design |
A large part of this transformation can be attributed to the advancements in technology, which has helped to accelerate this pace of change, retooling nearly every aspect of our daily life, from how we communicate, to how we shop, to how we receive medical care. Design and fashion Schools — many of which have been slow to embrace innovation — are beginning to engage in this digital revolution.
Design and fashion schools to keep pace with changing world across the country are marrying hands-on, inquiry-driven learning with digital technologies. They are blending traditional instruction with computer-based activities. They’re also using the web to provide teachers and students with greater access to resources, primary source documents, and faraway subject matter experts. Importantly, teachers are helping students to leverage technology as a platform for collaboration, creativity, and self-expression.
As technology continues to change the way consumers buy products, Design and fashion colleges have started rethinking how they teach their students to interact with technology in their day-to-day work practices, from 3D printing to using universal design software to sketch directly. For example, one area in which fashion and design integrates technology incredibly well is print design, where students learn to work with the latest processes in digital print, like a high tech dying room and digital dying vats, alongside traditional methods like screen printing.
Now with changed Curriculum the under graduate courses in design schools focus on design, manufacturing, garment construction and retailing . Fashion colleges are focussing on making students to be proficient in most aspects of CAD drawing for fashion and design — so they know the basics of a garment using modern technology tools .
Fashion and design institutes are also integrating technology into their learning programmes to make them work and collaborate across multiple disciplines. Some colleges are establishing innovation labs, where students can engage with and explore the different options within technology and increase familiarity of digital practices.
Fashion and Design Industry and brands in the country is also coming forward to help emerging designers work alongside emerging technology businesses and new business models as the opportunities for fashion and technology were significant with the tech influences changing every element of the fashion industry.
With aim to integrate technology into courses fashion and design schools are changing the curriculum to provide a more diverse set of skills to students. This includes making student understand data, behavioural analytics, material sciences and the construction methodologies. The merging of fashion and technology requires a very diverse skill set — design, coding and engineering. The industry’s future demand is for the digital designers of the future graduate with a much deeper understanding of those areas.
Along with introducing new technologies Design and fashion institutes are not diverting their attention from the traditional design fields, cultural values so that the craft skills that are the primary outcome of a design education are sustainable Design is an all-encompassing field that integrates together business and engineering, the social sciences and the arts. We see a tremendous opportunity for students that learn design in this integrated way.
Design is an exciting powerful field, filled with promise. To meet the challenges of the 21st century, design and design education must change. So too must design and fashion institutes
About Ms Archna Surana
Ms. Archana Surana is the Founder and Director of the ARCH Academy of Design having campus in Jaipur and Gurugram (Gurgaon) . The Academy offers Undergraduate & Postgraduate courses in Fashion and Textile Design, Jewellery Design, Crafts and Accessory Design, Interior Design, Design Management & Design Communication with National & International Certification.
Ms. Surana is actively involved in the revival & development of the crafts across Rajasthan. She has formed the Self Help Group- Kumkum, to motivate needy women towards economic empowerment, enhance confidence levels and create solidarity amongst them.
A widely travelled and noted speaker, she is on the board of various government & industry bodies and has been part of important forums all over the world. As head of the academy she has represented the institution in various International & National forums including the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) annual conference, and International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid). She has also been instrumental in the development of links in knowledge sharing and the strengthening of common curriculum areas within Fashion, Textile & Jewelry Design with various International academic institutions. Under the funding sanctioned by the British council she was recently in Scotland at the Cardonald College, Glasgow to finalize collaboration and signing of MOU between the institutions.
