About me
Hi, I’m Pallavi and currently live in Bangalore.
I’ve been a part of the fashion industry for over 13 years and have had an exciting and unique professional journey. A NIFT graduate, I started my career as a fashion designer and worked with domestic and international brands across retail and export firms in India.
I created profitable design collections, revamped brand design direction and launched new product lines (along with my team) in organizations like Lifestyle and Raymonds. Apart from designing for private labels, I collaborated with global team to design for licensee brand as well. This was a period of immense learning for me as I worked with some of the best creative minds of the industry (visual merchandisers, stylists, graphic artists, technical designers, buyers, merchandisers etc.)
I learnt about the global fashion market and created designs for international brands (US, Europe &Australian) during my tenure in the export house.
Having worked in organisations with different business set ups, I gained a holistic understanding of the industry, the challenges faced and the skills required to excel in each space. Curious to learn more, I decided to do an MBA, which bolstered my business knowledge and management skills. As a creative professional who understood business, I was able to bring in ‘the best of both worlds’ solution at work.
It was around this time that I had my first tryst with teaching when I was invited to NIFT as an industry expert. I realised I loved teaching. Though I continued working as an apparel designer, I started teaching part time in different colleges. I taught fashion and business subjects at graduate and post-graduate levels in colleges like NIFT, FDDI and INIFD.
As a teacher, one of my biggest strengths was in blending academic curriculum with industry knowledge. Eventually, I took up teaching as a full-time profession and there’s been no looking back ever since.
Why did I design this course?
As a teacher…
I found that many students felt quite unsure and unprepared venturing into their fashion careers. Lack of awareness about different opportunities, how the industry operates and inability to figure out the right career left them feeling helpless and uncertain about their future. Many ended up taking the first job they landed or were fixated on bagging a certain ‘prestigious’ role, without even evaluating if it was the right career for them. Most of them regretted their choice later.
AS A PROFESSIONAL…
I saw the situation was no different in the industry. Many designers were in a role that was either a misfit or had poor growth prospects. To make matters worse, they lacked knowledge about other roles and weren’t able to switch either. The few who had some idea about other opportunities, feared chartering unknown territory and felt ill-equipped to change their career path midway.
WHAT HIT ME THE MOST WAS…
I had been through all this MYSELF!
Landing secured jobs in sought after companies was my benchmark of success – only later did I realise that it meant little in the long run. I never had a plan B for my career. Teaching happened by accident. I have experienced the problems of fashion education system, seen the industry challenges and issues plaguing the current generation of designers. It took several years of experience, guidance from industry mentors and a lot of soul-searching to figure out the right direction (I’m always a WIP though 
).
While there are plenty of courses on how to learn the skill of fashion design (be it illustration, pattern making, garment construction, etc.), there is practically no guidance on how to build the right fashion design career.
While mentoring students on how to build their career, I realized it was a bigger problem for the designer community in general (students & young professionals). That’s when I decided to create a simple, easy to understand, industry-backed online course to help designers build a fulfilling career. I started brainstorming, researching and putting all the ideas together during my maternity leave. A few months later, I gave up my full-time job and decided to focus exclusively on developing and teaching this course.
I interviewed industry experts, spoke to fashion professionals and combined their insights with my knowledge and experience to design this course for you.
About this website –
An Ombre is a gradation, where one shade of colour transforms into another, creating a beautiful realm of hues. It is just like our life; where we evolve to become better version of ourselves, both professionally and personally. Ombresphere is the space meant to guide and inspire you in this transformative journey, from a PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE.
In a country like India, where fields such as engineering, medicine and science benefit immensely from easy acceptance, resources and information, pursuing a design career can be challenging. Ombresphere provides information about the fashion design industry in a simple and structured manner. The objective is to help you navigate and succeed in the design space by providing information about potential career paths, skills required, challenges faced, right mindset and much more.
So, be it getting a head start, advancing your professional journey or simply upgrading your design skills, Ombresphere is here to build and support budding and seasoned designers like you.
Come a step closer to building a successful career in fashion!