National Institute Of Fashion Technology

The road leading to Cyber Towers ("Hi-tech City") in Madhapur is dotted with several attractive sights. Most of them are about 5' 2" in height, fetchingly dressed in sleeveless tops and faded Jeans, feminine in gender, and spilling out of one building. Several of them will produce the fashions of tomorrow. Some of them are doing it already. And when they decide to showcase, oh, anything, they have the photo-op-hungry media lapping.

Welcome to NIFT.

NIFT Hyderabad is arguably the best fashion school in India. Though Delhi has the original NIFT, Hyderabad is the only center to have the ISO 9001-2000 recognition (as we write this in 2003). Between ISB, IIIT, NALSAR, UOH's Golden Threshold and NIFT, they put Hyderabad on a very special map.

It feels like a great achievement to be a part of a national institute, gauging by the number of tests conducted for admission. But once you walk into one of the ten best buildings in India, you are likely to feel intimidated. For, the people here are amongst the cream of 17-year-olds of the country. Only people with big dreams enter NIFT - students are literally handpicked, after six rounds of entrance exams. (Though if you have a lot of money, you can get in through the "management" quota.)

There is a general misconception that a fashion school is a lot of fun and partying as there are no text books, notes or exams, but everyone at NIFT is always working - whether it is a student or a faculty member. As a result, the frustration levels are high, especially for the hostelites (who make up 90% of the strength). It takes a lot of patience, perseverance and self-motivation to make it through the four years, as the dropout percentage is really high. Getting in is just one issue, but passing every semester is a recurring one.

Initially all courses at NIFT were 3-year diplomas, but in 2003 they were changed to 4-year degrees. For the batch of 2003, a new one-year course of foundation was introduced, in which various subjects like weaving, yarn craft, an overview of the industry, clay modeling and geometry were covered. There are some 1-year part-time courses too, where admission is on a first-come-first-served basis.

There are some in-house permanent faculty members, but guest lecturers are invited to NIFT on a regular basis.

NIFTians are usually spotted at pubs and coffee shops around Madhapur, and in some of the popular college festivals, especially ISB and IIT fests. But most of the time it's campus and projects. And in spite of all opinions of critics, the brand name still sells.

Courses Offered
Under Graduation (Design) - 4 years (initial fee Rs. 33,500 per semester, followed by Rs. 25,000 per semester, exclusive of hostel fee)
Fashion & Apparel - Fashion Design
Leather Design (New Delhi & Kolkata)
Fashion & Textiles - Textile Design
Knitwear Design (New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai)
Fashion & Lifestyle Accessories
- Accessory Design (New Delhi)
- Personal Products & Interior Accessories (Bangalore)
- Footwear & Leather Products (Chennai)
- Jewelry & Precious Products (Gandhinagar)
- Interior Products, Handicrafts, Mix-Media & Glass (Hyderabad)

Under Graduation (Technology)
Garment Manufacturing Technology - 4 years

Post Graduation - 2 years (same fee structure as for UG)
PG Programme in Management (Hyderabad)
PG Programme in Technology