Apart from corporate patronage, PAF also offers internationally validated programmes. Just this week, the institute has entered into a validation programme with the German retail institute, LDT-Nagold.

PAF came into being in 1993 with a 12-month full-time diploma programme in Fashion Design and Clothing Technology (FDCT). Since then, it has widened its curriculum to include areas of production, design, merchandising and, more recently, retail.

"Clothing and textile retailing is rapidly changing its face worldwide following economic globalisation and changing perceptions in fashion designing," says PAF director A K G Nair. "This is also the most rapidly growing sector in the textile industry. The growth of this sector entails a growing demand for professionals with expertise in diverse retail functions like retail management, merchandise management, supply sourcing and retail planning. That is why we felt the urge to introduce a post-graduate diploma programme in retail management at PAF." It is for the validation of this 18-month PG diploma programme in retail management that PAF has tied up LDT-Nagold, the oldest private institute in Europe wholly dedicated to textile retail studies. Interestingly, LDT was set up and is owned by the German Textile and Fashion Retail Association, the oldest retail association in that country.

If Shopper's Stop and Planet Sports in Delhi and Trouser Town in Chennai are any indication, then textile retailing is taking a new shape in India as well. In that perspective, the retail management course at PAF-which focusses on product and marketing knowledge, retail systems and industry trends, IT application in retailing and development of generic and cognitive skills-with its 4-6 week student exchange programme and validation with LDT-Nagold is definitely worthwhile for those who are eyeing a career in the textile retail business.

Students taking up this course at PAF can avail of a scholarship in the form of bursaries from LDT. However, the scholarship amount is yet to be finalised.

PAF offers other post-graduate and under-graduate programmes as well, some of which-such as the PG two-year Integrated Fashion Technology Programme (IFTP)-are validated by the Nottingham Trent University (NTU) of the UK. In addition, PAF is in the process of getting validation for its under-graduate programmes-BA (Honours) in Fashion Design & Technology and in Clothing Management & Technology- from NTU. Both under-graduate courses have a duration of 42 months each.

PAF has a spectrum of curricula to choose from, and it charges fees that are a bit on the higher side-Rs 1,29,500 for the post-graduate courses, payable in four installments and Rs 80,000 per annum for the under-graduate courses.

However, for students whose family income is below Rs 1.2 lakh per annum, the institute has 10 corporate sponsored scholarships ranging from Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000. Apart from these corporate sponsored scholarships, students are also entitled to scholarships from the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) (based on the same criteria) in association with which the institute conducts its under-graduate, two-year Professional Diploma Programme in Fashion & Web Design.

But the icing on the cake is PAF's placement service, which boasts of nearly 100 per cent placement of students through campus interviews. This is possible only if an institution enjoys continuous interaction and patronage from industry corporates. And the Pearl Academy of Fashion has that in the full.