Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

There are more than 1000 fashion design colleges in India, which indicates the popularity of fashion designing as one of the most preferred design specialisations. The NIFT campuses, which are among the top design colleges in India, are a major destination for anyone looking for the best colleges for fashion design. Some of the other top fashion design colleges in India include the institutes of NID, Shristi Manipal, and Pearl Academy that design aspirants go for.

The eligibility criteria for the top Fashion Design Colleges in India vary across colleges. At the undergraduate level, students should have completed 10+2 to apply for UG design admissions. The admissions to the PG courses offered by the top fashion design colleges in India are open to students who have qualified in Fashion Designing at the undergraduate level.

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Top Fashion Design Colleges in India: Highlights

The number of fashion designing colleges in India are over 1000 that include private and government colleges.
Fashion Design courses offered by the top fashion design colleges in India include B.Voc., B.Des and even diploma courses.
Admissions to the best fashion design colleges in India are through entrance exams like NIFT, CEED, UCEED, and NID DAT etc.
Candidates can expect the fees at some of the best design colleges in India to range from Rs.10 Lakhs to Rs.20 lakhs.

Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India

The table below shows the best colleges for fashion designing in India, along with the India Today rankings 2025:

Top NIFT Colleges in India

NIFT Campuses Ranking	India Today Ranking
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi	1
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Navi Mumbai	2
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore	3
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai	4
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad	5
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar	6
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Patna	7
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kolkata	8
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Jodhpur	9
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bhubaneshwar	10
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kannur	11
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Raebarelli	12
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Shillong	13
National Institute of Fashion Technology, Kangra	14

List of Top 10 Fashion Design Colleges in India

The list of the 10 colleges that can be considered amongst the best fashion design colleges in India have been given in the table below. Details of the ownership are also stated herewith.

Best Fashion Design Colleges in India

Top Fashion Institutes in India	Ownership
Pearl Academy, Mumbai	Private
Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore	Private
UID Ahmedabad	Private
Manipal Academy of Higher Education	Private
MIT Institute of Design, Pune	Private
World University of Design, Sonipat	Private
Amity University, Noida	Private
Army Institute of Fashion Design Bengaluru	Private
Chitkara Design School, Jhansla	Private
Indus University, Ahmedabad	Private

Best Private Fashion Design Colleges in India

The top fashion design colleges in India under private ownership are known for its faculty and placements. To get into the private and best fashion design colleges in India the candidates must choose the colleges based on its fees, admission procedure, courses etc. Here is a list of the best colleges for fashion designing in India under private ownership.

Best fashion designing colleges in India with Private Ownership
Amity University, Noida
Army Institute of Fashion Design Bengaluru
Manipal Academy of Higher Education
MIT Institute of Design, Pune
Parul Institute of Design, Vadodara

Best Government Fashion Design Colleges in India

On the contrast the government top fashion designing colleges in India are affordable but hard to get in. To get selected for the best colleges for fashion design in India candidates need to qualify the entrance exams and get selected through interviews. The top colleges for fashion designing in India are known for competitive environment and world class faculty. We have listed below the top colleges for fashion design in India.

Best Fashion Design Colleges in India under Government Ownership
Allahabad University
DAVV - Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore
Bangalore University
Alagappa University
Panjab University (PUCHD) - Panjab University, Chandigarh

How to Apply to the Top Fashion Design Colleges in India?

Candidates who meet the academic eligibility criteria need to qualify in the entrance exams to take part in the selection process for admission. Fashion designers are also expected to be good at drawing as most fashion design entrance exams have a drawing section. Qualified candidates will be shortlisted and need to clear a personal interview. In some cases, they need to also showcase their portfolio in the admission process. Thereafter admissions are confirmed after payment of the requisite fee.

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What are the Entrance Exams to Get into the Best Fashion Design Colleges in India?

Entry to the top fashion design colleges in India are on the basis of entrance exams which test a student’s aptitude and drawing skills. Some of the entrance exams students can look into for admission to the best design colleges in the country are as below.

Entrance Exams for Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

NIFT Entrance Exam – The gateway to the National Institutes of Fashion Technology, this exam is one of the most popular ones. Many students appear for the exam to get into the design world. The institutes offer both UG and PG courses.
SMEAT: The Srishti Manipal Entrance & Aptitude Test is the entry to the design courses offered by the Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
Pearl Entrance Exam: To pursue design courses at Pearl Academy, students need to appear for the entrance test and qualify.
CUET UG: The Common Universities Entrance Test is one of the path ways to get into the design courses offered by some of the Central Universities as well as other design institutes.
CUCET: Entry to the design courses at Chandigarh University is through the Chandigarh University Common Entrance Test.
FDDI AIST: Admissions to the Footwear Design & Development Institute is through the FDDI AIST.
LPU NEST: The path to design course admissions at Lovely Professional University is through the LPU NEST.
MIT DAT: Candidates vying for admissions to the MIT Pune design courses must appear for the MIT DAT and qualify.
KIITEE: Entry to the Fashion design courses offered by KIIT are on the basis of the performance in KIITEE.

Top Fashion Design Colleges in India: Fee Structure

Students need to know about the fee structure of the best fashion design colleges in India to make an informed decision about their future. Here is a list of fashion design colleges in India and their fee structure.

Fashion Design Courses in India Fees

Top Fashion Institutes in India and Their Design Courses	Fees in Rs
Pearl Academy, Mumbai Courses & Fees	30.83 Lakhs
Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore Courses & Fees	29.44 Lakhs
UID Ahmedabad Courses & Fees	25.10 Lakhs
Manipal Academy of Higher Education Courses & Fees	9.72 Lakhs
MIT Institute of Design, Pune Courses & Fees	14.94 Lakhs
World University of Design, Sonipat Courses & Fees	14.72 Lakhs
Amity University, Noida Courses & Fees	4.32 Lakhs
Army Institute of Fashion Design Bengaluru Courses & Fees	8.16 Lakhs
Chitkara Design School, Jhansla	12 Lakhs
Indus University, Ahmedabad	10.44 Lakhs

Chances of getting into the Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

Use the following predictors to know the chances of getting into some of the best fashion design colleges in the country

NID College Predictor: The free tool allows candidates to input a few details and check out the probability of getting admissions into one of the NID campuses.
NIFT College Predictor: This tool takes the details of the candidates in addition to scores and predicts the NIFT campus likely to get into on the basis of the details provided by candidates.
UCEED College Predictor: The chances of getting into on the design institutes using UCEED scores can be checked with this.

Low-cost Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India

With tuition fees in most colleges exceeding Rs. 5 lakh, enrolling in the best fashion design colleges in India can be expensive. However, there are also some affordable colleges, mentioned below with their tuition fees:

Low-cost Fashion Design Colleges in India	Tuition Fee
Bon Secours College For Women Fees	Rs 44,000
Sardar Patel Mahavidyalaya ,Chandrapur Fees	Rs 69,000
Punjab College of Technical Education Fees	Rs 93,000
Rathinam College of Arts and Science Fees	Rs 1.80 lakh
Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya Fees	Rs 1.60 lakh

Highest Salary Offered by Best Fashion Designing Course in India

Below is the average placement package of the top recruitment agencies for fashion design graduates, college-wise:

Design College Names	Average Placement Package	Top Recruiters
NIFT Kannur Placements	Rs 4 LPA	Bhartiya International fashion, AND Design, Mandhana Industries, etc.
PSGCAS Placements	Rs 3 LPA	Microsoft, Tata, Reliance, Cognizant, IBM, etc.

Region-wise Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

There are nearly 50 top design colleges in India. Out of these, Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of top fashion design colleges in India. See the table below showing the states offering the highest number of design colleges:

States	Number and Names of Design Colleges
Tamil Nadu	10+ (NIFT Chennai, NIFT-TEA, PSGCAS, etc.)
Karnataka	6 (NIFT Bangalore, Army Institute of Fashion and Design, JD Institute of Fashion and Technology, etc.)
Maharashtra	7 (NIFT Mumbai, Symbiosis Institute of Design Pune, Pearl Academy Mumbai, etc.)
Uttar Pradesh	4 (Amity University, Noida, Amity University, Lucknow, NIFT Raebareeli, etc.)

Courses Offered in the Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

Before obtaining admission into best fashion designing courses in India, the candidates must select the colleges carefully. Not all colleges offer the top fashion design courses in India. The top fashion designing courses in India can help the candidates get better placements. Some of the popular fashion design courses offered by the top fashion design colleges in India are listed below. The students can go through the fashion design courses and make a judicious choice.

Fashion Designing Courses Offered at Top Design Schools

Courses	Description
B.Des in Fashion Design Course	A 4-year undergraduate course consisting of 8 semesters. Students start with basics of designing and end up with indepth knowledge of fashion designing.
B.Voc in Fashion Design Course	A skill oriented course of 4 years, B.Voc in fashion design places more emphasis on practical designing skills that can be easily implemented.
M.Des in Fashion Design Course	A2 years master course, the M.Des in fashion designing is the next step for graduates in fashion designing. Students take up specialisations in this course and develop requisite skills and knowledge in the same.
M.Voc in Fashion Design Course	A course designed to provide specialised skill based training in fashion designing, M.Voc in fashion designing is for graduates who already are familiar with the field and are qualified academically for the same.
Diploma in Fashion Designing Course	Students who want to start small with short term courses can opt for the diploma programmes which primarily are for 1 to 2 years.

Specialisations Offered by Top Fashion Designing Colleges in India

The leading fashion design colleges in India offer a wide range of specialized courses. Check out the table below which shows the specialized courses offered by these colleges:

Top Specialisations	Top Fashion Design Colleges
Fashion Design	42 (NIFT Delhi, NIFT Mumbai, NIFT Bangalore, etc.)
Apparel Design	8 (NIFT Kannur, Army Institute of Fashion and Design, JD Institute of Fashion Technology, etc.)
Textile Design	4 (JD Birls Institute, BBK DAV College for Women, Nehru Arts and Science College, etc.)
Knitwear Design	1 (JD Birla Institute)

Also Check Top Fashion Design Colleges in India – City wise

Top Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi	Top Fashion Design Colleges in Maharashtra	Top Fashion Design Colleges in Bangalore
Top Fashion Design Colleges in Hyderabad	Top Fashion Design Colleges in Chennai	Top Fashion Design Colleges in Kolkata