New Delhi: Students will soon be able to learn drapes, cuts and other intricacies of fashion studies from home. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is set to offer fashion designing courses through the distance education learning mode.

IGNOU vice chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai has said that the university was entering the world of fashion education for the first time since it opened over two decades ago.

"The initiative will help many students living away from metropolitan cities to study fashion. Now they have one more option to pursue the career of fashion designer," IGNOU spokesman Ravi Mohan told IANS.

The university, in collaboration with the Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), a private fashion institute, will launch new programmes in fashion design, textile design and fashion merchandising and production.

There will be a one-year certificate programme, a two-year diploma programme and a four-year degree programme.

Authorities said PAF will conduct personal contact programmes at centres identified by a Joint Coordination Committee of IGNOU and the institute.

While IGNOU will hold examinations and issue certificates, PAF will evaluate and assess the students.

IGNOU was established by the central government in 1985 and currently serves the educational aspirations of about 1.5 million students in India and 35 countries. IANS