Volkswagen India has collaborated with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) to design the uniform of the sales and service team comprising of 10,000 employees. The competition focuses on the brand’s mission to deliver the strongest customer connection as the sales and service teams are the primary point of contact for any customer visiting the Volkswagen network.
As part of the ‘Dress up VW challenge’, the Fashion Design batch of 2020 had to submit attire design for four categories, both male and female (Hostess, Sales Consultant/ Service Advisors, Sales/Service Manager and Specialist). The design requirement necessitated it to resonate with Volkswagen’s brand values along with it being suitable for professional settings, visually appealing, comfortable and convenient for employees to wear and carry. The entries were submitted in the form of hand illustrated designs or digital copies of design basis of which 10 entries were shortlisted. Further, a 7-member jury announced the top-6 finalists – Ms. Ankita Pattanath, NIFT Shillong; Ms. Bhavika Singla, NIFT Mumbai; Mr. Pratyush Panda, NIFT Gandhinagar; Ms. Priya, NIFT Patna; Ms. Shivani Priya, NIFT Mumbai; Ms. Shiwani Priya, NIFT New Delhi; who have been chosen to create and present a prototype of their design for male and female version of Sales Consultant and Service Advisor; and only wear-on for Sales/Service Manager. The finalists will be given 2 weeks to manufacture the prototypes.
Commenting on this initiative, Mr. Steffen Knapp, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India said, “Our goal is to make Volkswagen more approachable and vibrant, and through this unique collaboration, we get to witness the creativity and innovation of the young talents across NIFT in the country. We congratulate the top 6 finalists and look forward to their reinventing designs that resonate with our new brand philosophy & customer experience.”
Shri Shantmanu, IAS, Director General – NIFT said, “We’re extremely delighted to collaborate with Volkswagen through the ‘Dress up VW challenge’ that provides our students an opportunity to solve real-world design challenges. Our students can apply their learnings to develop purposeful design that understands and integrates the brand philosophy with the target audience.”
Prof. Dr. Vandana Narang, Dean – Academics, NIFT said, “Design plays an integral role for any business as it’s a representation of a brand’s ethos and personality. With Volkswagen India 360 degree rebranding exercise, we are extremely delighted to associate with them through the dress code network challenge. Our students are happy to participate in this unique opportunity that enables them to represent Volkswagen’s new brand design language of being more modern, human, flexible, colorful through their designs. Our students would work closely to understand Volkswagen’s target audience that would provide them the relevant insights while designing the network dress code.”
The final round will be conducted on October 20, 2020 in Mumbai, where the winner will be awarded a prize money of INR 50,000; the runner-up will get INR 30,000 and the third runner-up will receive INR 10,000.
