WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, held in Shanghai, China, from 23 to 26 September 2026, brought together more than 1,400 young competitors from around 68 countries and regions in 64 Skills. India participated with its largest-ever contingent of 70 competitors across 63 skills, securing 10th position with 6 Silver Medals and 20 Medals for Excellence.
In the event, NIFT was represented in four skill areas—Fashion Technology, Visual Merchandising, Retail Sales and Digital Interactive Media Design. The participation reflected the expanding role of fashion education across creative, digital and retail-oriented skill domains. NIFT’s participation contributed significantly to this achievement, with its participants securing 2 Silver Medals and a Medal for Excellence across three skill categories.
Fashion Technology has been a longstanding area of NIFT’s participation at WorldSkills, with the Institute participating in the skill since 2011. At Shanghai 2026, Vidhi Niravkumar Suthar, a Fashion Design graduate from NIFT Gandhinagar, represented India in Fashion Technology and received a Medal for Excellence.
Vidhi 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. Prof. Gupta, who has extensive experience in Fashion Design and WorldSkills, provided intensive preparation, mentoring and guidance throughout the training period. The programme focused on strengthening technical proficiency, precision, adherence to international standards and the ability to perform under WorldSkills competition conditions.
In Digital Interactive Media Design, Kovid Ajay Gangrade from NIFT Mumbai won a Silver Medal, while Saniya Joshi from NIFT Panchkula won a Silver Medal in Retail Sales. Their achievements are particularly significant as Retail Sales and Digital Interactive Media Design are among the new and emerging skill categories highlighted at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026, reflecting the changing nature of the fashion and creative industries and the growing integration of technology, digital platforms and customer experience with the sector.
NIFT’s participation also extended to Visual Merchandising, with Anuja Ajay Vare from NIFT Bengaluru representing India in the skill.
For NIFT, the WorldSkills journey represents more than participation in an international competition. It provides students with exposure to global occupational standards, emerging technologies, international benchmarks and industry expectations. The experience also enables NIFT to continuously strengthen its training methodologies and integrate global best practices into its academic and skill-development ecosystem.
The success of NIFT participants at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026 demonstrates the Institute’s continued commitment to developing professionals equipped to compete at the highest international levels, while bringing together fashion, technology, creativity, retail and digital skills.
NIFT congratulated its students, experts, trainers, officials, Ministry of Textiels and all those involved in their preparation and participation at WorldSkills Shanghai 2026.
