‘Le- Demarrage’- An Exhibition to support start-ups by the students of UIFT

Chandigarh, October 2, 2022: An exhibition titled 'Le-Demarrage' was organised at UIFT & VD, Panjab University, Chandigarh to support young aspiring designers and start-ups. Fifth semester students and third semester Bachelors in Fashion and Lifestyle Technology students displayed their designer products. Lifestyle products included embroidered and hand paintings, handbags, tote bags, scrunchies, jewellery, resin accessories, and calligraphy products. Dr. Anu H. Gupta, Chairperson UIFT & VD, stated that this exhibition was a practical exercise and learning for the students about various concepts covered in their course curriculum such as marketing, visual merchandising, costing, client handling, brand building etc. and this exhibition is a platform for the students to showcase their creativity and get a feedbackfrom the customers to further improvise their products.Students, scholars, faculty, and staff from various departments attended the exhibition and praised the students' efforts. The young start-ups received numerous orders for their creations. The enthusiasm of the students who took part was palpable. Some of them shared their thoughts on their startups.

Sundeep named her brand ARTYLICOUS and stated, "The reason I started my own business was, first, to make myself independent and to know the value of many things, and also to make myself proud, which is the motive for life. I work with handcrafted resin pendants, initial keychains, and bookmarks, and I hope to come up with more exciting lifestyle products."

"As a neophilic, I enjoy learning, experimenting, and creating various art and craft products, which has inspired me to use various techniques to create lifestyle products such as hand painted clothing, macrame products, realistic painting, calligraphy, and much more." My teachers inspired me to turn my hobbies into a start-up, and I decided to work under my own label.”- ISHWARPREET DESIGNS by Ishwarpreet

“I've always loved painting; ever since I was a child, I've painted on the wall, and my walls are covered in doodling’s and landscapes. In addition, I used to do arts work for my classmates, relatives, and neighbours for fun. That gave me the idea to embark on the canvas express journey”. Canvas Express by Rashmi Trikha

“I believe I am good at what I do and that I will achieve great success. It's a step toward my future business. One of the main reasons was that I wanted to be self-employed and improve my self-taught skills. MY HOBBY LOBBY is not only assisting me in gaining experience, but also in gaining confidence”.MY HOBBY LOBY by Bhuvanshi

Manpreet, a student of B.Sc. fifth semester student organised this exhibition and polished her skills in event management. She said, “This exhibition was a unique opportunity provided to students  to connect, create and accelerate business growth plans together start-up founders from the department”.

Parneet Brar, Guest faculty UIFT & VD encouraged and guided students for this exhibition. The exhibition created an inclusive marketplace for students to showcase their products and services, and learning spaces were created at the university.