Students and experts from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) have helped India achieve a strong showing at the 48th WorldSkills Competition, Shanghai 2026, securing two Silver Medals and a Medal for Excellence across fashion, digital and retail skill categories.
WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 was held in Shanghai, China, from September 23 to 26, bringing together more than 1,400 young competitors from around 68 countries and regions across 64 skills.
India fielded its largest-ever contingent of 70 competitors across 63 skills and finished 10th, winning six Silver Medals and 20 Medals for Excellence.
NIFT participated in four skill areas – Fashion Technology, Digital Interactive Media Design, Retail Sales and Visual Merchandising – reflecting the expanding role of fashion education across creative, technology-driven and retail-oriented domains.
NIFT participants secure three medals
In Digital Interactive Media Design, Kovid Ajay Gangrade from NIFT Mumbai won a Silver Medal, while Saniya Joshi from NIFT Panchkula secured a Silver Medal in Retail Sales.
The achievements are significant as Retail Sales and Digital Interactive Media Design are among the new and emerging skill categories featured at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026. These areas reflect the growing integration of technology, digital platforms and customer experience with the fashion and creative industries.
In Fashion Technology, Vidhi Niravkumar Suthar, a Fashion Design graduate from NIFT Gandhinagar, represented India and received a Medal for Excellence.
Fashion Technology has been a longstanding area of NIFT’s participation at WorldSkills, with the institute taking part in the skill since 2011.
Suthar underwent an intensive four-month training programme at NIFT New Delhi under the guidance of Prof. (Dr.) Monika Gupta, Indian Expert, and the NIFT training team. The programme focused on strengthening technical proficiency, precision, adherence to international standards and performance under WorldSkills competition conditions.
Prof. Gupta, who has extensive experience in Fashion Design and WorldSkills, provided intensive preparation, mentoring and guidance throughout the training period.
NIFT’s participation also extended to Visual Merchandising, with Anuja Ajay Vare from NIFT Bengaluru representing India in the skill.
Exposure to global standards and industry practices
NIFT’s engagement with WorldSkills goes beyond participation in an international competition. The platform provides students with exposure to global occupational standards, emerging technologies, international benchmarks and industry expectations.
The experience also enables NIFT to strengthen its training methodologies and incorporate global best practices into its academic and skill-development ecosystem.
The institute said the performance of its participants at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 reflects its continued focus on developing professionals equipped to compete at international levels across fashion, technology, creativity, retail and digital domains.
NIFT congratulated its students, experts, trainers, officials, the Ministry of Textiles and others involved in the preparation and participation of the Indian contingent at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
