Career in Textile Designing

Textile Designing as an art has been preserved in special museums, obviously it was and still is considered a very serious art. Take the Museum Des Arts de la Mode et du, at the Palais du Louvre, France. It houses everything from bedsheets, to pelmets, to carpets to historical fabric printing technique.

Indian textile designers are now well known in the world market for having skillfully blended traditional textures with dyes for meeting modern market needs.

So what exactly is Textile Designing?
Textile designing deals with creating designs for textiles in the apparel and furnishing sectors. It covers both surface design and structural design. Designers handle textile or embroidery designs, prints, weaves, styles and textures.

Textile designing encompasses the creative aspect of this industry and the designer's task is one of sketching, shaping and colouring fabric.The textile designer must have knowledge of yarn making, weaving knitting, dyeing and finishing process ,including the knowledge of different types of looms, knitting machines, printing processes including block, stencil, roller and silk-screens.

What does the job entail ?
Designers prepare designs, produce samples of cloth with technicians and then arrange to have them printed. Textile designers usually work closely with fashion designers and buyers to try to predict future trends in fashions for colour fabrics. They may specialise in printed, woven or knitted material and in designs for a particular product.

Personal attributes required?
To become a textile designer you need to be artistic and creative, with a good eye for colour. Communication skills and technical understanding are important. You also need to be able to work to deadlines and within a budget, and to have good computer skills.

How can I become a Textile Designer?
To become a Textile Designer you'll have to enroll in any one of the Fashion Designing Schools, where they have specialized courses on Textile Design.

Advice for aspiring Textile Designers
This field is not as glamorous as some might envision it to be. It entails a great deal of hard work and can incorporate many long hours. There is also much more to the job than just designing, so be prepared to do things that you didn't initially anticipate

Where to Study?
Textile Designing is a creative field. If you're observant and creative you can create your own motif's on the computer, but a formal training definitely helps to a certain degree.

Courses / Institutions

- National Institution of Fashion Technology,
NIFT campus, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016
Course : Computer Aided Textile Designing (30seats)
Duration : 1Year
Eligibility : 10+2

- National Institute of Design,
Paldi, Ahemdabad- 380007
School leavers programme - Programme offered are as part Industrial Design Course
Duration : 4 Year.
Qualifications required : 10+2 or its equivalent.
Admission Announcement : October
Tests : January
Interview : May.
Advanced entry professional educational programme
Course : Textile Design.
Duration : 3 years
Qualification required : Graduates in fine Arts, Home Science (Clothing & Textiles) Humanities, or diploma holder who have qualified from Polytechnic with related specialisation or candidates with 2 years professional experience in textiles.
Advertisement : January.
Test : May

- Up Cooperative Spinning Federation Limited
B-2, Sarvodaya Nagar,Kanpur- 208005.
Course :Offers one year correspondence courses in Textile Technology. Postgraduate diploma for graduates, Diploma for 10+2 and Certificates Course for Class X students .

The UP cooperative spinning Mills, a conglomerates of 11 mills has a turnover of Rs. 200 crores and job openings.