Meghna Ghai Puri, President of Whistling Woods International — India’s premier institute for Film, Communication and Creative Arts — sat down with Fashion Value Chain on the occasion of the AIYANNA Fashion Graduation Show 2026. From the evolution of fashion education in India to the urgent need to protect and celebrate indigenous craft on the global stage, Meghna Ghai Puri spoke with clarity, conviction, and a deep sense of purpose. Here is the conversation in full.
Whistling Woods International has always encouraged creative talent. What makes the AIYANNA Fashion Graduation Show 2026 particularly special for you this year?
Any display of a student’s hard work is always special to me — every single year, AIYANNA has been extremely special to us. We’ve always celebrated our students, not just for the outcomes — the outfits and the costumes they create — but for the hard work and the resilience they demonstrate in the process of making them.
This year, of course, carries an added significance because it marks the first graduating cohort of our four-year B.Des degree programme. That makes it even more meaningful, because these students have had one extra year at Whistling Woods — one more year of learning, growing, and finding their voice.
How do you think fashion education in India is evolving, especially for students who want to enter the global fashion and costume industry?
I think, as your question rightly reflects, more and more students today are aspiring to become fashion designers, stylists, and professionals within the business of fashion. It is no longer a hobby course that students would casually pursue, as it perhaps was in the 1990s or early 2000s. It is now looked at as a serious profession, a career within an industry that is truly massive.
And India — given its rich culture, its extraordinary artisan community, and its remarkable handloom industry — has so much to offer to global platforms. That is precisely why education must stay in step with both the trends shaping the industry and the standards that the industry demands.
At Whistling Woods, as with everything we do, we are always ahead of the curve in fashion as well. We are constantly thinking about what comes next for our students — integrating technology, whether it’s 3D-printed accessories or encouraging students to approach their costumes not merely as garments but as stories they want to tell. This is the age of storytellers, of communicators, of creativity and design — and I believe fashion education across the board has come a long way in drawing that out of students.
Many young creators today are inspired by digital media and social platforms. How is Whistling Woods helping students adapt to this changing fashion landscape?
Honestly, students teach us most of the time. They are acutely aware of what is happening in the digital world — they are agile, they are quick, and they adapt to new trends almost intuitively.
Our role here is to help them enhance those skills and to build a foundation strong enough that they stand out in the clutter of social media. That, really, is what our faculty and our mentors at Whistling Woods are dedicated to doing.
What qualities do you personally look for in a fashion student who wants to truly stand out in the industry?
The first thing I look at is commitment — how committed is this person to a career in fashion? Talent is abundant; so many of our students are extraordinarily creative and technically capable. But it is the human quality, the emotional intelligence, that truly determines success in any industry, and perhaps especially in fashion.
Commitment to the craft, the willingness to put in hard work, and resilience of character — these are the qualities that shine through in every successful entrepreneur and designer I have ever encountered in this industry. And these are the qualities I hope to see in my students.
As President of Whistling Woods International, what message would you like to give to the aspiring fashion designers and media students attending this show?
I would simply say — continue doing what you love. If you want to find genuine happiness and real success in life, pursue your passion. Do what you love, and happiness and success will follow.
I would ask them to persevere and never give up. Life will bring struggles — that is inevitable. But I would like my students, above all, to stand out and shine through every challenge and every difficulty they encounter. That resilience is what will define them.
This next question comes from our influencer and designer community, and it touches on something very close to the ground — the issue of Indian craft being appropriated globally. Traditional Indian elements like Kolhapuri chappals, jhumkas, and Bandhani prints are trending worldwide, but foreign brands sometimes rebrand them without proper credit. What do you think Indian fashion designers should focus on to protect and promote our original culture on the global stage?
First of all, I feel genuinely proud. The fact that Indian colours are in fashion, that our textiles, our handlooms, and yes, the Kolhapuri chappal — which, truthfully, even we Indians did not fully value until it stepped onto a global platform — are now being celebrated and spoken about, that is wonderful. As they say, any publicity is good publicity, and I think that is a remarkable thing.
But what I would say to Indian designers is this — we have been chasing Western concepts and Western designs for far too long. It is time to look inwards. What is trending globally right now is just the surface. Our culture runs extraordinarily deep in terms of creativity, textiles, handlooms, and artisanship. If we go deeper, we will create better designs — and we will give credit where it truly belongs, which is with the artisans.
Why are we shying away from our own culture? Look at yoga — it has received more recognition and visibility in the Western world than it ever did within India. I think that is where we fall short. If the global industry has embraced our heritage, we should feel pride in the fact that it is our artisans whose work is reaching the biggest brands in the world. Credit must absolutely be given where it is due — but more than that, the onus is on us, as Indian designers, to carry more of our handlooms and textiles to the global stage ourselves.
On that note, is Whistling Woods planning to educate or empower artisans on intellectual property, copyright, and protection of their craft?
I would absolutely love to do that. I do believe this is also part of a broader government initiative — I know the government has been actively working with artisans across states, empowering them with knowledge and information in this area. If given the opportunity, we would wholeheartedly participate.
What we can and do commit to from our side is sensitising our own students. Every semester, our students go out and visit artisans directly — they work with them, they sit with them in the spaces where they live and create. We don’t bring artisans to us; we send students to them, so they experience firsthand the conditions under which this extraordinary work is produced.
That immersive understanding is what we need. Our fashion designers must truly comprehend how artisans work and how beautiful and how difficult that work is. In fact, just last year, this graduating batch did an extraordinary showcase of handlooms and textiles from different parts of India. A couple of students worked specifically on the Kolhapuri chappal — and I was genuinely surprised to learn just how difficult it is to make even a single pair. I simply did not know, until this entire conversation brought it to the fore.
That is the knowledge that needs to go out there. I am glad this question is being asked. We must work deeper into the interiors of India. And I am hopeful — because we do work with the handloom industry and with the Handloom Association of India, and I know the extraordinary work they are doing to empower artisans. With the government, the private fashion industry, and committed designers working together, I genuinely believe we can make a real and lasting difference.
