The Higher Education Review

A strong sense of fashion trends and an appreciation of fabrics are two of the core skills of fashion technology. Whether designers are creating prototypes for mass production or unique bespoke garments for a single client they will be expected to know how to source, buy, and store raw materials and fabrics and then translate designs into wearable clothes for any occasion.

Namuna College of Fashion Technology (NCFT) was founded in 2002 by Gyani Shova Tuladhar, a trailblazing fashion designer, businesswoman, and academic who has been engaged professionally in fashion for over five decades. NCFT takes pride in its strong track record of developing students into top fashion entrepreneurs and career professionals, with some of the most well-known and renowned Nepali fashion/costume designers and fashion stylists of recent times having graduated from the institution.

Ten of the alumni received important academic honours from the Government of Nepal and Purbanchal University for their academic achievements. The graduates are also working in a variety of positions in some of the largest industries in Nepal. For high-profile movies, pageants, Miss Nepal winners and participants, movie stars, celebrities, and socialites, the graduate's design and fashion. Additionally, they have displayed their designs at exhibitions in China, the USA, Australia, and England.

The establishment of NCFT in affiliation with Purbanchal University, Nepal, allowed Gyani Shova Tuladhar to realise her lifelong dream of founding a fashion college in Nepal after already establishing one of Nepal's oldest designing/tailoring firms, "Namuna Silai," in 1972 and, Nepal's one of the first professional training institute for fashion design, "Namuna Institute of Technology," in 1997. With the introduction of its three-year Bachelor of Fashion.

Design (BFD) programme in 2002, NCFT became the first fashion college in the nation. By converting its Bachelor of Fashion Design (BFD) programme into the Bachelor of Fashion Design and Management (BFDM) programme in 2016, NCFT also became the first and only fashion college to introduce a four-year academic programme in fashion.

What started off with only six students in its first batch, currently NCFT has around three hundred fifty enrolled students and nearly six hundred graduates.

Nurturing Creative Talent
Students at NCFT have the opportunity to develop their creativity by taking part as designers in prestigious outside events that NCFT frequently partners with or works with. Student creativity is further boosted via internal competitions, presentations of practical work from different courses, industrial visits, design workshops, guest lectures, and talk sessions with well-known national and international figures. The courses are specifically designed to assist students in taking part in internal activities and to get them ready for life outside of the university.

The BFDM curriculum was developed with assistance from top academicians in Nepal and business professionals with years of local and international experience to meet the innovative and dynamic needs of the sector. At NCFT, instruction and learning take place over the course of five academic blocks.

"Student creativity is further boosted via internal competitions, presentations of practical work from different courses, industrial visits, design workshops, guest lectures, and talk sessions with well-known national and international figures."

The practical labs are outfitted with industry-standard high-speed electric sewing machines and other essential equipment, materials, and resources. They include spacious, furnished classrooms with audio/visual equipment to promote effective teaching-learning. The well-stocked library is home to pertinent textbooks, reference books, fashion magazines, journals, and other materials from throughout the nation and the globe. The NCFT building has high-speed broadband internet access, and the computer lab has Optitex CAD software as well. Students have access to subsidised, hygienic food in the cafeteria. Students can use the draping and textile dyeing lab at NCFT.

A combination of arts, science, technology, and management are covered in the 35 subjects that make up the BFDM programme. Students acquire all the theoretical, practical, and technical knowledge, skills, and processes needed for the development of their ideas through production and marketing, as well as fashion business and event management. In any educational setting, the scholarships offered to play a crucial role in helping

deserving and disadvantaged students realise their academic goals. To qualified students, NCFT gives up to 100 percent scholarships in two categories. The scholarships, which have a yearly value of over 4 million Nepali rupees, presently help over thirty students.

Learning and Imagining Future
For its 2014 fashion show, Fashionation, which was held in Kathmandu, NCFT partnered as a design partner with Pidilite Industries, an Indian company. For the International Trade Center (ITC), Geneva's Pashmina Enhancement and Trade Support (PETS) project in Nepal in 2017, they served as the training service provider for the Pashmina Fashion Design and Technology (PFDT) course.

"We concluded two Pashmina Fashion Shows under the Pashmina Enhancement and Trade Support (PETS) project implemented by International Trade Center (ITC), Geneva in Nepal in 2017. We collaborated with Japanese designer, Aya Domon and Hokkaido Dress Maker College, Japan for the fashion show 'Gratitude and Hope' in 2018. We supported The British Council Nepal in its Crafting Futures project in 2019", explains Gyani Shova Tuladhar.

More than 30 of Nepal's most famous businesses in the fashion, garment, textile, and pashmina sectors participated in workshops that NCFT hosted about the internship programme in 2019 and 2020 and has an internship MOU agreement with Nepal Pashmina Industries Association in 2013. In addition, NCFT also holds an internship agreement with Garment Association of Nepal (GAN) in 2014. In order for Shimal Kanaujiya, Miss Nepal Supranational 2020, to compete in the Miss Supranational 2021 pageant held in Poland, NCFT were The Hidden Treasure's design partner for the national costume.

One of Nepal's most well-known fashion extravaganzas, the graduation fashion show held under the name of `Journey of Fashion', which is now in its seventeenth edition overall, is also organised by students as part of the course requirements. The BFDM curriculum gives students' overall personality development the same priority as academic success.

In addition, courses like `Fashion Styling', `Portfolio Development',`Design Collection (Catalogue)', and `Fashion Show' give students a substantial outlet to develop their creative abilities. As a centre for fashion research and information for students, instructors, and other industry participants, NCFT aims to teach fashion at the higher secondary and master's level.