Explore winter fashion

By Ranjan K Baruah

We have published articles related to fashion industry in general and on fashion communication. In this edition, we will publish details about knitwear design, which is also part of fashion career.
There is no doubt that retails of apparels in India are a booming industry whether one talks about metros or even small towns. With the growing number working women and fashion-conscious people in the country, this segment will continue to grow in near future. Not only female but males are also interested in fashionable apparels. This brings more opportunity for people who are planning to make their careers related to knitwear design.
The domestic knitwear market consists of various categories such as innerwear, T-shirts, winter-wear, knitted bottom-wear for kids, sleepwear etc.
The major contributors to the knitwear market are innerwear and T-shirts accounting for 34 per cent and 28 per cent of the market, respectively. The innerwear segment is a large category in the Indian knitwear market. The market size of the innerwear market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10 percent over the next decade to become Rs 74,258 crore by 2027.
Innerwear has evolved from core functional to being associated with more lifestyle attributes. Bottom wear is another emerging category among knitwear in India. The huge demand for leggings, knitted churidar, pajama sets, etc., due to comfort and easy maintenance has resulted in growth of this category. The other categories contributing to the knitwear market are winter wear, kids’ bottom wear and sleepwear etc. Sportswear and other comfort wear are a few new emerging categories in the knitwear segment.
NIFT’s four-year Knitwear Design programme is developed towards creating design professionals who can cater to the exclusive segment in fashion, particularly in sportswear and lingerie. The programme has been designed to create well-rounded professionals equipped to handle the challenges of circular and flat-bed knitting in the domestic and export fields.
Aspirants may choose to study knitwear design after passing senior secondary course. They can pursue careers as designers, creative managers, merchandisers, production managers or self employed like entrepreneurs. Knitwear design students are exposed to a wide milieu of subjects, including fashion art and illustration, garment construction, pattern making for knits, flat and circular knitting.
As it is a specialised course in fashion designing or fashion industry one needs to know in depth about the course and its future prospects before choosing it as their careers. There are national and international brands which provide jobs to people with knitwear design as their course.
Students from northeastern region may think of more innovation with latest techniques and the traditional attires of knitwear. Gym wear or yoga wear is also creating more opportunities. There are more opportunities for skilled people who can be entrepreneurs after studying knitwear design.
All those who are aspiring to be knitwear designers or wants to establish themselves then they must have required skills. Skills include creative skills, knowledge of colours and shades, eagerness to learn, technological skills so that they can use computers for computer-aided designs related to knitwear. Effective or good communication skills are must to be successful in this field. Understanding the pulse of the market is important for innovation and sustainability in this field.

(The author is a career mentor, motivational speaker and skill trainer and can be reached at 8473943734 or
[email protected])