 Pearl Academy of Fashion in Chennai
 The Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), India's premier fashion and textile institute, announced the opening of its new campus in Chennai. With this Chennai gets its first fashion institute of international stature.
Having established pre-eminence in the field of fashion and textile education in New Delhi for over 12 years, PAF has chalked out an ambitious expansion plan to open 10 new centres in India by 2008. Owing to the tremendous potential of Chennai and its strategic location, PAF has decided to set up its first campus in Chennai in south India.
 A K G Nair, group director, Pearl Academy of Fashion, said, "South India has played a key role in the growth of the textile industry in India. The southern textile industry is expected to grow by 10-12 per cent in 2005-06 and a trend towards capacity expansion and backward integration is predominant as per industry sources. However, paucity of trained professionals will continue to be an area of great concern for the state's textile sector."
"Pearl Academy of Fashion in Chennai will help industry in meeting the demand for trained professionals both for the growing fashion and retail industries of the region, particularly in the areas of merchandising, production, quality control and design."
 Nair foresees southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, to play a dominant role in exports in the next three years as the international design trend is moving more towards basic and functional garments. "This is the strength of the state's textile and garment industry," he added.
S Ramalingam, director, Pearl Academy of Fashion, Chennai, said the courses offered by the institute will help to meet the growing demand of trained personnel for the fashion, textile and home textile industries of the southern region. All these programmes are industry-oriented and designed to equip students with understanding and skills of modem technology. "The Chennai branch will be no exception in terms of our commitment to stringent quality standards and systems," he said.
It's the first time that students of Chennai will have access to internationally validated fashion education and graduate to get placements across the world with eminent buying houses and multinational retailers. Placements of the last batch of PAF graduates got salary offers of as high as Rs 4 lakh per annum with the minimum offer being Rs 2.5 lakh, said Nair.
 PAF offers internationally recognised B.A. and M.A. level programmes in fashion in association with the Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK, and LDT Nagold, Germany, widely acclaimed world leaders in fashion and retail education. The academy has active networking with national and international organisations, besides membership in prestigious bodies like the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes, National Retail Federation, USA and the Fashion Design Council of India.
It has well-equipped campuses in Delhi, Jaipur and Chennai with more than 1,000 students on its rolls.
A retailing course would also be commenced in Chennai as there was tremendous scope in the retail segment, said
Ramalingam.
R Rangaraj
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