By Ranjan K Baruah
One of the basic needs for any human being is clothes. From basic need to luxury, clothing has changed over the years. From tradition to modern age, textile has been an important part of our lives. Clothes are important not only to wear but for many other purposes.
India’s textile sector is one of the oldest industries in Indian economy dating back several centuries. India’s textile and apparel exports stood at $ 38.70 billion in FY19 and are expected to increase to $ 82.00 billion by 2021 from $ 11.92 billion in FY20 (up to July 2019). Lakhs of individuals and families are involved in textile industry which starts from basic handloom to big power loom production.
The Indian government has come up with a number of export promotion policies for the textile sector. It has also allowed Foreign Direct Investment too which bring more opportunities to people engaged in this sector. Different initiatives and existing programmes can be learned from the websites of the Ministry of Textile. The textile industry in India traditionally, after agriculture, is the only industry that has generated huge employment for both skilled and unskilled workers. It continues to be the second-largest employment generating sector in the country.
With these statistics we can imagine the career opportunity in the field of textiles. Career starts from individual weavers to people engaged in big industries. Opportunities may be related to technical line like studying engineering courses or diploma like polytechnic courses and others like textile design which is one of the most creative career options. In today’s edition we shall mention about textile design as a career option.
Textile design is basically the practice of creating designs for woven, knitted or printed fabrics or surface decorated fabrics. Textile designers are involved with the production of these designs which are being used in different occasions. In simple textile design is the process where a finished and attractive useful textile product is made from raw materials.
Textiles are anything that is made up of yarns, fabrics or fibres. These days most of the professional textile designers use CAD (computer-aided software) to create designs on fabrics or other surfaces.
Textile designers should know how to draw, have a superior eye for colour, pattern and texture and an appreciation for the fine points of textiles and fashion. They identify the fluctuations in trends and fashion, understand textile techniques, are good communicators, have problem-solving skills, and enjoy a dare while being on budget and time limit.
Career options in the textile industry especially textile design includes few headings like Weaver, textile artist, fashion textile designer, etc. Students pursuing courses related to textile designs are easily employed in the industry in different posts and designation like textiles production manager, research and development analyst, textile marketing managers, etc .It is a competitive field, so a good quality education and building a professional portfolio with all required skill is important to be sustainable in the field.
Few courses related to textile design include Bachelor of Design (Textile Design), Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts (Textile Design) – BVA (TD), Bachelor’s Degree in Garment Manufacturing Technology – B.Sc (GMT), Certificate Course in Computer Aided Textile Designing – (CCTD-CAD). There are many institutes offering the courses related to textile design and one of the leading institutes is National Institute of Fashion Technology.
(The author is a career mentor, motivational speaker and skill trainer and can be reached at 8473943734 or
[email protected])