Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27: Sophia Polytechnic hosted a two day conference called “The Indian Artryst – Bringing traditional art forms to life”, a conference for makers, artisans & thinkers re-imagining the future of fashion. The conference focused on conversations around the vast availability of Indian arts and crafts, preserving the Indian art forms and weavers, and taking the craft of India to international platforms.
On day one of the conference, esteemed speakers such as Laila Tyatbji – founder member of Dastakar, Mr. Gaurang Shah – celebrated Indian designer, Nitin Pamnani – founder of online store i-tokri took to stage to share their experiences with students on working with the Indian craftsmen and weaver, on how to build a fashion brand which speaks about the Indian values and culture and how to build an online presence for global outreach of the brand.
On the second day of the conference, esteemed speakers such as Sujata Bissau, co-founder Suta, Mr. Hemang Agrawal – MD & Founder Surekha Group, Shivam Nathan – Director Swadesh India, Lekha Prajapati – Actor, Nivedita Saboo – Indian fashion designer interacted with student and took them through their journey of building brands which speak about the Indian crafts, the shortcomings of building a brand and how to overcome challenges while building the brand.
The two day conference also hosted an inter – college competitions such as a fashion show (green fashion runway), a fashion play (kala ki kahani) and a folk dance competition where 18 fashion institutes from all over Maharashtra participated. students showcase their talent through sustainable collections celebrating the green runway, kala ki kahani and folk dance competition where the story telling highlighted the Indian artisans, weavers and preserving the art forms which is slowly diminishing.
“The Indian Artist Conference 2026, organized by the department of Dress Designing & Garden Manufacturing, Sophia Shree B.K. Somani Memorial Polytechnic, a two day national level conference sponsored by the Luigi and Laura Dalla Piccola Foundation organized in collaboration with MKSSS’s School of Fashion Technology (SOFT), Pune was a great success, where we would educated the students on the importance of the Indian fashion, culture and artist.”, says Jignasa Shah.