Neeta Lulla, the popular Mumbai-based fashion and costumes designer, has partnered with Bollywood film director Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods International, Mumbai (estb. 2006) to promote the Whistling Woods International Neeta Lulla School of Fashion (WWINL), of which she is the founder-dean. During a career spanning 28 years, Lulla has designed costumes and ensembles for over 350 Indian and international feature films, for which she has won four national film awards and numerous international accolades.

Newspeg. WWINL’s first batch of 20 students — all women — enrolled in the school’s advanced diploma in fashion design programme have been attending classes since August. Sited on the 150,000 sq. ft Mumbai campus of Whistling Woods International School of Filmmaking, WWINL offers 35 fully air-conditioned classrooms, and sewing laboratories equipped with Japanese pattern-making and apparel construction machines.

The curriculums of the advanced diploma and diploma programme (the latter to be introduced in early 2014) cover fashion design, pattern making, quality control, visual merchandising, marketing, illustration, styling, fashion photography and journalism.

History. A design graduate of the Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic of SNDT Women’s University, Lulla started her career as an assistant choreographer to Jeannie Naoroji. A few years later, she began teaching fashion coordination and grooming at her alma mater where she continues to be visiting faculty. Almost two decades later, she promoted NSL Fashions Pvt. Ltd and its flagship Neeta Lulla retail store in Mumbai.

Direct talk. “With the Indian textiles and apparel industry contributing over 4 percent of the country’s GDP, the need to develop professionals with fashion design expertise is pressing. Currently there is a severe shortage of technical and creative experts as also companies with adequate infrastructure and finance. WWINL will provide industry-ready professi-onals equipped with practical experience of apparel and textiles design,” says Lulla.

Tuition fee. Diploma in fashion design (12 months): Rs.4.99 lakh; advanced diploma in fashion design (24 months): Rs.8.36 lakh.

Future plans. Right now Lulla and faculty are ascertaining the trained personnel needs and requirements of the country’s top textiles and apparel companies. “We already have a good basic curriculum which will be improved continuously to meet the exact specifications of garment and apparel exporters. A few hundred years ago, Indian textiles and garments were highly prized around the world. We need to regain that eminent position,” says Lulla.

Right on!

Sunayana Nair (Mumbai)