Ellen College of Design, Jaipur, HOD - Fashion: Dr Purujit Chatterjee Interview

Dr. Purujit Chatterjee is the HOD of Fashion in the Ellen College of Design, Jaipur. He specializes in structuring Fashion Design Curricula, and mentoring students for graduating collections. He has also worked as an Assistant Professor at Vogue Institute and FDDI. He teaches Design Range Development, Creative Pattern Making, Draping, Fashion Retail & Merchandising, Fashion Marketing, Fashion Studies, and Fashion Forecasting.

What are your roles and responsibilities?

“Facilitate workshops, guest lectures, seminars, and practical learning for students”

We bent on achieving high standards of excellence from the department. They get a consistent academic ambience. We motivate faculty members to constantly innovate teaching methods, and review the Fashion Design curricula. It facilitates the workshops, guest lectures, seminars, and practical learning in the laboratory. 

How do you establish healthy relations with students and fellow faculty?

“Make all members into academic activities, and accept student feedback to solve problems”

I need to propagate an environment where teachers can teach with interest, and remain impartial to students. They can handle any situation arising in the classroom. I ensure that they are attentive throughout sessions, ask questions, and answer the ones their teachers ask. We prefer maintaining a cordial relationship with faculty members, and students. One of the best ways to solve issues is discussion on teaching methods. Students can discuss their problems with assigned teachers and build a strong bond. 

How do you try to bring a practical approach to subjects and make them industry-oriented?

“Workshops, seminars, and Internships are available for students”

Our fashion design academics are practical oriented. We were motivated to spend more time at Research and Development. Students need to invest more productive hours in the laboratories. I motivate my faculty members to be available to all students who are working in the labs. Pupils get workshops, seminars and Internships to acquire industry-oriented knowledge. The Fashion Design field is diverse,and more opportunities are available to students to improve skills. They become experts with the market standards and requirements.

How do you strategize the curriculum and get updated for the students?

“Constant reviewing of teaching-learning methods and industry requirements follows in the curriculum”

We update the Fashion Design curriculum annually. On the other hand, industry requirements are also taken into consideration. We consider modification in the practical modules and the accompanying theory. Constant reviewing of teaching-learning methods in an inductive and deductive manner takes place on campus. It helps the academic standards of a campus and its future.

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What are your views on the placements and higher education for students on campus?

“Provide training, industrial visits, and other trends in the fashion industry for pupils”

We prepare students for higher education and placement. They get various opportunities such as training, internships and more. The Indian garment industry contains ample opportunities for fresh recruitments. Students get full-time and freelance work. We follow up with alumni for recruitment of fresh graduates. Some students are pursuing higher education after graduating from ECD.

How do you help students to cope with the competition in the outside world?

“Encourage pupils to set realistic goals, learn limitations, and problem-solving skills”

Each student comes to terms with the growing competition in the fashion sector. We support pupils to set realistic goals, learn limitations, develop problem-solving skills, and acquire the skill sets. Our department imparts the culture of cooperation through interdepartmental learning sessions from day one. 

Do you have any extracurricular programs to enhance the skills of students to face real-world challenges?

“Problem-solving skills, team-building traits and interpersonal coordination are provided to students”

We engage our students in various extracurricular programs. Most students are visual learners, and working on workshops like those of Tie & Dye, Draping, and Print-making. We help students in improving sensibilities at color combinations, problem-solving skills, team-building traits and interpersonal coordination skills. Regular industry visits available to students for touch with day-to-day working in fashion units. Our firms cater to the current market demands. We also collaborated with the Weavers Service Center (WSC), Govt. of India, and other fashion industries. We celebrate Women’s Day as a vital event, and it is a little step towards gender equality. 

What challenges have you faced to uplift the quality of education of Ellen College of Design, Jaipur?

“Acquainting students to the ground realities of the industry, and making them invest themselves”

One of the hurdles is the set of preconceived notions about the fashion industry. Various runway shows inspire them but don’t reveal the responsibilities or efforts a designer puts into his collection. Fashion Design courses certainly provide ample opportunity to land a job, and materialize with rigorous preparations. It begins with regular engagement in the classes. My challenge is in acquainting students to the ground realities of the industry, and making them invest themselves in a precise path. Students become mature and get sharpened as per industry needs during the final year. 

What approaches do you bring in apart from the curriculum to train the students?

“Guest lectures, seminars and advanced techniques are covered in our curriculum”

We organize freestyle draping and drafting sessions for pupils. They are guided for intensive research and development. Our campus prepares them for advanced techniques through advanced sessions. We prepare ellenites for a better grasp at the workings of the fashion industry. Pupils get guest lectures and seminars from the campus. I train students for an objective perception of fashion components and a routine construction followed by us. We prepare students in ways beyond the designed curriculum. 

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Any valuable advice would you like to the students to have a prosperous career ahead?

“Update the skills, stay positive and keep growing”

Students should update the skills as per latest trends. We can see that the world is changing every day and you need to pace up with it. Stay positive, face every challenge and keep growing.