Several of India’s top fashion designers, like Ritu Beri, JJ Valaya, Ashish Soni, Rajesh Pratap and Puja Nayyar, learned their craft under the guidance of one of India’s foremost fashion instructors. Baxi followed a diploma in fashion designing in India with a year’s programme at New York’s prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology. She then help set up the much-acclaimed fashion design department of NIFT in New Delhi, joining it soon after its inception in 1986.
Besides teaching, she specialises in international fashion trend forecasting and is also a design consultant, having worked on projects with Air India, OCM, and Indian Airlines. Through the Festivals of India, international trade exhibitions, AEPC (Apparel Export Promotion Council) road shows, Baxi has done much to promote Indian fashion abroad.
Vinod Kaul, Former Chairman, Fashion Design Council of India
The marketing grad from IIM-Ahmedabad has three decades of management experience in fashion and retail with Tata Exports, Bata, DCM Benetton and Raymond, and eight years in Canada with importers and Canadian fashion retailers. Until earlier this year he was executive director of the Indian fashion industry’s apex body, Fashion Design Council of India.
Shyamoli Varma, Former Supermodel
India’s first supermodel, Varma made Indians look upon the profession with newfound respect. She began at 22, and shortly after, got admission to NID. Finances constrained her from going, and their loss was modelling’s gain. Seven years in Paris and a successful career in India later, she now runs a modelling and personality development workshop in Pune.
Somesh Singh, Head of Department, Apparel Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
This graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology has expertise that spans the whole gamut of the fashion industry, from fashion design and merchandising, apparel manufacturing, retailing, visual merchandising and perceptual ergonomics. At the same time, Somesh Singh also keenly tracks the dynamics of the business of fashion. His experience in the apparel industry includes a year at NED Graphics, Holland, as a chief design officer.
Somesh Singh has also worked as a fashion consultant with a number of national and international export houses. More importantly, he is a design consultant with Khadi Village Industries Commission. He has presented several papers on fashion, some of which have been published in leading dailies.
