Simran Gulati: “Being a Campus Director has really enhanced my leadership skills and improved my social and organizational skills.”
Fellows raise hand in agreement to constitution made as cohort
Print designs and some sketches made for S/S 2020 at Anushkaa Bajaj
Print designs and some sketches made for S/S 2020 at Anushkaa Bajaj
One of the designs of Simran selected by Anushkaa Bajaj and now available online for purchase
Simran Gulati, a Year 3 retail and marketing student in the BA programme, was recognized by the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) and the United Nations Academic Impact as a Millennium fellow and a Campus Director at PolyU in the summer of 2020.
Launched in 2018, the fellowship is a semester long leadership development programme that convenes, challenges and celebrates student leadership for the United Nations goals. Simran dreams of making the fashion industry more sustainable and ethical. She believes that each consumer today has the power to make a change and therefore proposed “Rethinking Fashion”, a project that advances Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11,12 and 13 (sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and climate action) with the support and guidance of Dr Nuruzzaman Noor, ITC Research Assistant Professor.
Simran explains the inspiration behind her project: “Being a fashion enthusiast, it’s so heart-breaking to see hordes of garments being dumped into the landfills which have hardly been worn. I want to create an awareness about how dumped clothing has a negative impact on our environment. To overcome this, I want to bring out humanity, a human connection to the garment which is missing today and how we can reuse our old clothing and give it one more round of life.”
Along with another fellow, Muskan Shah, a Year 2 student who is majoring in retail and marketing in the BA programme, Simran has launched an Instagram page (@rethinking.fashion), which aims to inspire consumers to make conscious decisions on what to wear by providing them with easy to follow guidelines and tips, and featuring inspirational talks with industry specialists. Followers can also join the programme by becoming an ambassador to help rebuild fashion for the good of the community.
Simran is very optimistic about their efforts: “We are already impacting more than 500 lives and recently goodonyou_app followed us, a renowned organization which rates fashion brands on the basis of a sustainability index to help consumers choose better”.
Also, in her role as Campus Director, Simran facilitates training sessions for 12 fellows at PolyU where they learn and discuss about global frameworks and share how they can resolve the global issues.
Simran also received the opportunity to learn and connect with several global leaders who are working towards sustainable development and Millennium Fellows across the world. Some of the leaders include Mr Sam Vaghar (Founder of MCN), Ms Sophia Kianni (youth advisor on climate change), Mr Fabrizio Hochschild Drummond (Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations) and many more.
Another fruitful summer experience was interning at a luxury occasion wear label, Anushkaa Bajaj, in India. As a designer and merchandiser, Simran was able to explore her interests in a variety of assigned roles, like designing a collection for Spring/Summer 2020 and textile prints, analysing the current market trends, handling the store orders and alterations with senior merchandisers and assisting with fabric selection. This internship has further strengthened her interest, confidence, and determination and equipped her with practical knowledge and skills which will be really helpful for her future career. Simran said, “I am looking forward to more such opportunities which will be a valuable learning experience for me and hope to become a sustainable fashion entrepreneur to help rebuild fashion for good.”
