Textile & Apparel Design

Dharmendra, an accomplished Textile and Fashion Designer with over 11 years of professional experience in the design industry and academia.

He attained his Master's in Design from NID Ahmedabad with specialization in Textile Design. For his Master’s thesis, he worked extensively with the Handloom weavers of the Bhagalpur Silk Cluster and crafted a unique collection of Festive Handloom Tussar Silk Saris for the prominent handloom brand Taneira (Titan Company Ltd). Spending months with the Bhagalpur Handloom Weavers moved him so much that apart from his Master's thesis, he also designed an exclusive collection for them, keeping the USP of the cluster and blending it with the demand of the modern times. It helped the local weavers in getting more orders and in increasing their household income.

He graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology-Patna with specialization in Fashion Design. For his Bachelor’s graduation project, he worked on the theme of Metrosexuality of Men and developed a collection based on it. He was awarded the Best Design Collection Award for it.

On the industry front, he has worked with various designers and design houses, including the renowned Indian Designer Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee. At Sabyasachi Couture, he headed the Torso and Pattern Making department and went on to develop new silhouettes and designs, which were showcased in various fashion shows, trunk shows and exhibitions in India and across the globe. He was part of the core design team which made outfits for various Bollywood and other celebrities for different events/movies, including the prestigious- Festival de Cannes. He played a crucial role in curating different fashion shows like- India Couture Week, Lakme Fashion Week, etc. Later, as the Head Designer, he headed a team of diverse people under a new designer label and curated numerous collections which were showcased in various national and international fashion shows and exhibitions like- India Fashion Week London, India Runway Week, Design One, Divaliscious- Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Nairobi, Bangkok, etc.

He is an ardent admirer of traditional Indian crafts and has worked with different Craft clusters at the grassroot level, including- Benarsi Silk Cluster, Bhagalpur Handloom Silk Cluster, Ajrakh Printing Cluster (Kutch), Bandhini (Kutch), Phulia Cotton Cluster (West Bengal), Batik Block Printing (Kutch), Kala Cotton Weaving Cluster (Kutch), Traditional Debbarman Textiles (Tripura), Sanganeri Block Print Cluster (Jaipur), etc.

He was awarded the Gold Medal for Academic Excellence and Community Service at NIFT- Patna in 2012. He was also adjudged the Best Menswear Collection of his batch at NIFT-Patna. He was the National Finalist in the ‘Wills Lifestyle: The Debut Designer Awards-2012’ and the ‘Triumph India International Inspiration Awards- 2012’. He created a sustainable futuristic collection using only Handloom Khadi cotton and Natural Indigo dyeing for the first ever Khadi Designer Competition organised by the KVIC (Khadi Village Industries Commission), India to promote Khadi cotton, and was selected as one of the Top Ten National Finalist. He went on to display his Khadi collection at an exclusive Fashion Show organised for the National Finalist by the KVIC at the Ashoka hotel, Delhi in October 2021. He also did the display for the Bihar Pavilion and represented Bihar Handloom at the India International Trade Fair, Delhi in 2011.

He joined the National Institute of Design Haryana as a Full-time Faculty in 2020. Having an academic background of both Textiles and Fashion and having a dynamic mind, provides him with an array of specialized subjects. He teaches a wide spectrum of subjects like- Weaving, Dyeing, Printing, Traditional Indian Textiles, Craft Orientation, Craft Documentation,  Heritage Textiles, Fashion Appreciation, Ready to Wear, Fibre and Yarn, Design Projects, History of Fashion, Surface Manipulation, Pattern Making, Garment Construction, Elements of Composition, Visualization & Drawing, Design for Space, etc. in the Textile and Apparel Design Department and the Foundation Department as well. He also guides students for Graduation Projects and different design competitions.

He has been a member of different jury panels, like- the jury for selecting the National Handicrafts Awards (Shilp Guru, National Award and Design Innovation Award), academic jury at National Institute of Fashion Technology- Patna, etc. Apart from the academic contribution, he also handles multiple important administrative responsibilities like- Credit and Evaluation Coordinator, Graduation Project Cell Coordinator, Faculty Incharge of IT Department, etc. He is the Head of the Weaving Lab, Dyeing and Printing Lab, ensuring the overall infrastructure development and maintenance of the institute. He has also proposed to establish the Design, Vision, Innovation and Solution Center (DVISC) and the Bamboo Design
Development and Innovation Center (BDDIC) at NID Haryana for driving innovation and design excellence at the national and international level, providing students and crafts communities a platform to collaborate and design for the future while keeping the traditional craftsmanship alive. He believes in using practical knowledge to find design solutions for everyday problems of the society.

His research areas of interest include- Crafts Study and Analysis, Sustainable Design, Designing for Society, Pattern Making and Garment construction- it's functional implementation in different aspects of social needs, Advanced Pattern Making, Design and AI. He loves painting, ideating, creating and music.