When the fashion industry started booming, there was a shortage of professionals required to cater to the demands of the industry.
In the 1990s, Indian higher education system did not focus a lot on innovation and creativity and only a handful of career options were available to the youth. The fashion industry had just started booming but there was a shortage of professionals required to cater to the demands of the industry. Reflecting on the years of conventional education, in 1993, Pearl Academy was set up with the aim to invest in passionate innovators and creators of tomorrow. For precisely a quarter of a century, Pearl has prided itself on bringing innovation to the industries of design, fashion, media, and business.
The faculty is one of the strongest pillars in any educational institute. At Pearl, the faculty has been at the forefront to drive the shift from textbook-based learning to experiential and industry-focused learning. Catering to the demands of design education, Pearl, because of its international alliances could inculcate best practices in its curriculum. Their own experiences of working in the industry enabled them to bring the expertise, knowledge and industry experts to the classroom. This was possible only because of the positive leadership whose beliefs, values and actions were aligned with the vision of the institute. This was the reason why Pearl faculty was also awarded ‘No.1 Faculty in Competence’ by Hindustan Times for excellence in 2005.
In order to provide international opportunities and nurture creative thinking among its students, international collaborations with foreign universities, global experts have facilitated Pearlites to participate in student exchange programs, art fests, international conferences, workshops and fashion weeks for many years now.
Understanding the need for the creative industry and the passion to achieve new heights in academic excellence, Pearl made inroads into new domains. This was also a time when India opened up its doors to foreign market attracting investors in different sectors. India’s customers were becoming aspirational of the global fashion brands. There were a number of homegrown brands that were carving a niche for themselves and there was a need to cater to this industry. Pearl Academy identified this need gap through a thorough study of lifestyle trends launched its Luxury Brand Management course. When the competitors were offering mere technical courses, Pearl Academy had courses with skills and design thinking integrated together offering holistic learning. The Communication Design course is one such example. The media & entertainment industry is one the fastest growing sectors in the country and promises to offer immense job opportunities to young professionals. Keeping the changing trend towards digitization and the demand for new age media skills, Pearl has recently started specialized programs in media and entertainment.
Fashion Styling & Image Design at Pearl is a relatively new offering and is currently not offered in this format anywhere in India. The course trains students to become professional stylists for magazine, film, television and new media. Additionally, they also become adept at personal styling, celebrity styling, wardrobe management and image management.
Pearl Academy has metamorphosed into an industry leader that develops courses with a pulse on the needs of the entire spectrum of the industry. The Academy ensures that the industries it caters to, are equipped with people who have the required skillset to spearhead growth, innovation and social development. Pearl Academy is a pioneer in the Indian market, combining hybrid blended learning and real-time lectures in a structured manner, thus making learning more effective and engaging.
Over the years the institute has developed an ecosystem that fosters and supports innovation, creativity and knowledge-based entrepreneurship skills among students. Towards this end, Pearl enables student interaction with industry experts to provide insights into the professional world, encourages an appetite to take risks and focuses on self-belief to make the students future world leaders.
From these opportunities, partnerships and exposure stem Pearl’s spectacular placement record for its students. With over 95% placement record in the last four years, Pearl students have set high standards in the industry in the domains of design, fashion, business and media. Some of the international companies that have hired pearlites include Accenture, Capegemini, Future Group, Gucci, Genesis, Burberry London, Walt Disney, IBM, Tommy Hilfiger, H&M etc.
During its journey, Pearl is proud to have been associated with NABA, Italy; AMFI, Netherlands; Media Design School, New Zealand; LDT Nagold; Domus Academy, Italy and Torrens University to name a few. Tie-ups with the industry bodies such as FDCI have ensured that students are exposed to a constant flow of mentoring sessions and master classes by designers and industry stalwarts. Affiliations with designers like Manish Arora, Rahul Mishra, and Manish Malhotra etc. have exposed students to the global fashion industry.
Pearl Academy has always been at the forefront of innovation in curriculum delivery. With an aim to ensure complete learning by every student and in order to give them all the tools and exposure required to be successful in tomorrow’s industry, Pearl Academy has recently developed a learning-based model, Pearl Total Learning System (PTLS), which is embedded in its curriculum. This system ensures that every student gets the right opportunity to develop skills, knowledge, and motivation to embrace change, set trends and lead the change as an innovator and leader of the future. The key features of Pearl Total Learning System are:
Career Mentoring – 360-degree preparedness. This includes a tool to assess student professional competencies both at entry and final levels and helps students develop a career path for themselves.
Edge Courses for Success – Special skills for tomorrow’s leaders. Students are taught special skills like Design Thinking, Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship by industry experts from around the world.
Industry Integrated Circuit – Live Industry Projects with FDCI, INTACH and others, a ‘Learn from the Masters’ series and industry juries for final projects.
Global Learning Project – Internationality for each student. Increased exchange opportunities plus an international experience lab along with beamed classes.
The 360-degree exposure through PTLS will deliver the competence and confidence required by young learners. The launch of the ‘Adobe Digital Technology Academy’ on all Pearl campuses is another acknowledgement of our industry partnerships in areas that we see as the most relevant for student success.
With the span of over 25 years, Pearl Academy has become a globally renowned institution of higher learning and has expanded its base from one centre to four centres – Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Noida. With the focus on Internationalism, entrepreneurship and employability; the institute is catering to the needs of the design, fashion, business and media industry and will continue to do so with the strong base that has now been built.
Prof. Nandita Abraham
CEO, Pearl Academy
As first appeared on BWEducation.
