Providing Young Minds with The Time and Space To Learn: Interning at Indian Designs

“Understanding each level of the process is what you really need and that is what you get at ID.”

- Shivangi Vijayvargia

"I got to meet so many like-minded people...and have so many amazing conversations"

- Likitha Ganapathy

This summer we had two new product development interns join our HQ team -? Likitha Ganapathy and Shivangi Vijayvargia. Likitha was a student from Garden City University, Bangalore. Shivangi, who joined us shortly after, was from the School of Fashion Technology, Pune.?

Since Shivangi was travelling quite some distance, she initially asked us if we could assist her in finding a living space for the duration of the internship. We put her in contact with our textile designer - Navneeta, who lives in a PG. The two of them communicated and Shivangi moved into the same PG.??

In no time, the two interns had assimilated into the team. When asked about their initial experience, they spoke about the collaborative culture at ID.

?In Shivangi’s own words, “I would hear so many things from my friends. They were in work environments that were too weird or too stressful. They were being yelled at or given too much work. But for me, it was not like that, for me, it was a really nice experience. The work environment was really calm. Even when there was pressure the team knew how to handle it, instead of blaming someone or yelling at someone else they would take charge of what they were doing.” She says she really learnt from this and appreciated how everyone made her feel welcomed from day one. Shivangi’s words were backed by Likitha as well, whose “overall experience was amazing and fun” and was “glad to have chosen this company” for her internship.

The interns took their product developer roles in stride learning the ropes of the job very quickly. Familiarising themselves with the various departments such as sampling, washing, printing, and embroidery. Shadowing the product developers in our team Afroz, Hidayath and Preetha, in the initial weeks, the interns were very soon carrying out tasks by themselves without supervision.

Moving forward, we observed and gained a better understanding of their talents. Likitha, we learnt, was pursuing a modelling career along with being a student. She modelled for our in-house denim collection. Shivangi had a striking skill for illustrations. She vocalised her interest to work with the digital marketing team and they were happy to have her on board. She said, “I really enjoyed working on graphics for the company’s social media. I liked being given different types of tasks and working on them side by side. The fact that I had to deliver on them kept me motivated.”

While both our interns were motivated smart workers, they of course had their unique personalities. This was especially evident in the type of learners they were. Likitha naturally took to Hidayath and Preetha as her mentors as they explained things in detail and she found that easier to follow. Shivangi on the hand took to Afroz as a mentor, he was not much of an explainer but would physically demonstrate a task and Shivangi found it easier to learn in this manner.

At ID we understand the need for balance between work and social interaction among colleagues. We asked the interns what was their favourite part of the internship outside work and their answers were unanimous: The Lunch Break. For Likitha the lunch break was her favourite because it was “where everyone got together and shared lunch with so many amazing conversations and details of their day.” Shivangi also echoed that the lunch break was also her favourite because “everyone sitting at the table, chatting, and eating from each other's tiffin box was really nice.”?

We at ID pride ourselves on providing students with exposure to the industry. However, mentorship like most things can be a two-way street. Having interns on board keeps us dynamic and refreshes our perspective and is one of the reasons we take our role as mentors very seriously. It is important to keep the knowledge flowing and be open to learning from new young minds.

“We always try to have at least 2 to 3 interns on board at any given time in design and product development. Many of our interns have come back to us as freelancers or expressed interest in working with us in the future. We love going to placements and interacting with zero experience students!”

- Ambereen, Creative Head

We provide young minds with a place where they can take root and cultivate their talents and intend to continue doing so in the future.

If you are looking for a first step into the industry, and would like to intern with us, please feel free to reach out and send us an email at [email protected].