Knitting a fashion yarn for you, me et al

“Roberto Cavalli does not speak English, nor does Giorgio Armani. So why should it be a barrier for someone in Batala in Punjab aspiring to be a fashion designer?” This refrain of Anil Khosla in a way sums up the idea behind his Inter National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD).

Founded by Khosla and his friend Ashok Kaushik in 1995 in their hometown Chandigarh, INIFD has since sought to rid fashion and fashion designing of their status as the preserve of an elitist few. And it has grown to 180 centres — 169 in India and the rest overseas. 

“When we talk of fashion we talk only of Rohit Bal, Ritu Beri and the like. But the shirt I am wearing is fashionable to me, so is it with him,” Khosla says, pointing at his neighbour’s commonplace white-and-blue checked shirt.

Is he fashion conscious? “I have to be, but if I were not doing what I am doing, I wouldn’t be,” quips Khosla. Surprisingly, Khosla wanted to be a journalist while majoring in political science at Punjab University. “Ashok and I started ‘Weekend Express’, a weekly, after college but we had to abandon it after 10 issues because of lack of advertisements,” Chawla rues, only to recount another bitter experience.

“My sister Ritu got through NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology) in Delhi in 1994, but we were told the atmosphere there was not great. Coming from a small town we were naturally apprehensive, and finally Ritu did not join.” This and the discovery that tier-II cities like Chandigarh did not have a training institute for wannabe designers, made Khosla and Kaushik set up INIFD with a seed capital of Rs 1 lakh.

With a slew of diploma and degree courses in fashion, textile & interior designing, offered in association with Italy’s Instituto di Moda Burgo and Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu, INIFD sees nearly 20,000 students passing out of its various centres every year. It has annual revenue of over Rs 80 crore and profit of Rs 6-7 crore.

Khosla is now geared up to devise vernacular courses in many of the centres around the country. He is aiming at having 300 vernacular centres by 2015. His sister says since the time INIFD was founded things have taken a turn for the better in smaller cities. “It is definitely no longer a taboo to study fashion designing. There is better acceptance these days.”

Khosla couldn’t agree more. He says, “There is a great sense of fashion even in villages. After all, it’s everybody’s prerogative to look good.” Well, it sure is, as long as it matters and is affordable for one to look good.