Asawari Andhorikar

Asawari Andhorikar is an interdisciplinary apparel designer & design educator whose practice sits at the intersection of design research, user-centred thinking, functionality, aesthetics, and innovation. With an academic foundation spanning Mechanical Engineering, Fashion Design, and Apparel Design, she brings a distinctive perspective to design, combining analytical and technical thinking with an understanding of materials, users, markets, and lived experiences.

She holds a Master of Design in Apparel Design from the National Institute of Design (NID), Gandhinagar, along with a Diploma in Fashion Design and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Her professional journey spans athleisure, womenswear, functional apparel, protective wear, and product development, with experience across design research, market and trend analysis, range development, fit and ergonomic analysis, sourcing, vendor coordination, and design team leadership.

Her design practice is grounded in understanding people, context, and purpose. Through projects involving protective apparel, healthcare-related products, chemical protective wear, and performance-oriented apparel, she has explored how design can respond to functional, ergonomic, environmental, and user needs. Her work reflects a strong interest in translating research and observation into tangible design interventions that enhance comfort, mobility, functionality, and user experience.

As an educator, Asawari is passionate about nurturing designers who are curious, observant, experimental, and critical in their thinking. Her teaching interests encompass Design Thinking, Apparel and Product Design, Design Research, User-Centred Design, Functional and Performance Apparel, Fashion Innovation, Materials and Processes, Fit and Ergonomics, and Sustainable Design. She aims to create learning environments where students move beyond designing for aesthetics alone to question, investigate, experiment, make, and iteratively develop solutions that are meaningful and responsive to real-world contexts.

• 2016 – 2020: Master of Design (M.Des.) – Apparel Design
  National Institute of Design (NID), Gandhinagar, India
• 2015 – 2015: Diploma in Fashion Design
  INIFD, Pune, India
• 2009 – 2014: Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) – Mechanical Engineering
  AISSMS College of Engineering, Pune, India

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• Assistant Manager – Design (Women’s Western Wear))
  Aspire Athletic Wear LLP
  Drove market and competition analysis to identify opportunities, strengthen product positioning, and translate market gaps into commercially relevant product ranges.
• Assistant Manager – Design (Women’s Inner Wear)
  Jockey India (Page Industries Limited)
• Led women’s inner wear development from market insight to product execution, with a focus on emerging trends, consumer needs, fit, and range opportunities.
• Assistant Design Manager (Women’s Athleisure Wear)
  Reliance Trends, Bangalore
  Developed seasonal athleisure ranges by translating trend insights into cohesive product directions while coordinating vendors and supporting end-to-end design execution.
• Designer (Men’s Ethnic Wear)
  BAREEK, New Delhi
  Supported the development of market-responsive ethnic-wear collections through research, range curation, sourcing, and design development.
• Design Intern
  Kalaraksha Trust, Kutch
  Explored traditional craft and cluster practices through field-based research, contributing insights to product and design development.
• Design Intern – Product design
  Dhama Innovations Pvt. Ltd. Hyderabad
  Applied product research and market understanding to support the development of a thermo-pulse therapy product.

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