Massey forms sustainable fashion partnership with Indian university

Massey University’s College of Creative Arts has entered a partnership with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in India, currently ranked the 15th best fashion school in the world.

The memorandum of understanding between the universities was signed by former College of Creative Arts Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Claire Robinson at the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi and will facilitate closer research connections and strengthen education ties between the two countries.

Professor Robinson was in India with head of the School of Design, Brian Lucid, international manager Tim Croft and senior design lecturer Sue Prescott, who is currently travelling in India with eight Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia students.

Massey textile design and fashion design students have been collaborating with NIFT students as part of the collaborative Make Fashion Circular: A New Sustainability Paradigm course. The students presented their work at the High Commission, including one group who sought to use waste stubble, a cause of current Delhi pollution, as a new textile material rather than burn it as Indian farmers currently do.

The creative media production students are filming the trip and will make a documentary on the collaborations and the challenges India faces due to the fast-fashion system.  

The team from Massey also visited Pearl Academy, a private multi-campus art and design school, and met with Education New Zealand staff in India to discuss how best to position the College in India, from a research, mobility and student recruitment perspective.

Professor Robinson says, “over the last few years we have seen significant interest, matched by enrolments, in our programmes from India, and this is only likely to increase over the next decade.

“So, in the next year, we plan to create more opportunities to collaborate with Indian counterparts and, hopefully, have more teaching and research faculty visit and engage with India, as India emerges as a key student market and a new developing research destination for the College.”

The students have also visited Rajasthan and the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design in Jaipur. In between these collaborative projects with other universities, students are visiting designers, industry, artisan communities and participating in dyeing & printing workshops.

The scholarship programme is funded by the New Zealand government and administered by Education New Zealand.

Fashion design, textile design and creative media production students in India on the Prime Minister's Scholarship for Asia.