Career Guide for Textile Designing Studies

Textile designing involves producing patterns for cloth used in clothing, household textiles (such as towels) and decorative textiles such as carpets. Textile designing is the most important aspect of the fashion industry. It comprises of both surface and structural designs. Structural designs are made through weaving, knitting, crocheting or pressing together fibers (felting) while surface designs are carried out by dyeing, printing, texturing or embroidering . A good course in textile design will mainly equip students with an understanding of all these areas so as to create a textile and also manipulate these techniques to customize textiles altogether. The textile industry it is the second largest employer in India after the agricultural sector, employing 35 million people directly. This, further supported by India’s rich and varied heritage of textiles, makes a career in textile design an exciting proposition.

Courses & Eligibility:

Many colleges, institutes and universities in India offer certificate, diploma, graduate and post-graduate courses in Textile Designing. For diploma or graduate courses, the minimum eligibility criteria is 10+2 pass and for post-graduate courses the minimum qualification is graduation in textile design or allied subjects.

Career Prospects:

A textile designer can be employed in the garment, fashion, home furnishing and the interiors segment among other industries. houses also employ a good number of textile designers. There are also growing opportunities with government sponsored and private silk, handloom, khadi, jute and craft development organizations. Experienced textile designers can work as freelancers offering their designs to different organizations. Most companies have training programs for workers who want to move into more skilled jobs. Those with technical skills and computer training should have the best opportunities in this field.

Remuneration:

If you want to start off in the fashion industry, working with a designer would call for an unpaid internship or assisting at a basic stipend. However, joining the industry as a fresher could pay you around 15-20 thousand per month up to even 30 thousand per month for students of prestigious institutes. In export houses experienced textile designers may draw Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 per month.