Beaconhouse National University (BNU)

Kiran Khan is a professor and head of the Textile, Fashion, and Accessories Department at MDSVAD. She initially earned a Bachelor of Design from the National College of Arts in Lahore, specializing in textiles. Her thesis, titled 'The World Beyond the Senses,' was awarded a distinction. Additionally, she received the prestigious Percy Brown Award for Art History and two gold medals for her performances as part of the NCA puppet team, known as The Puppeteers NCA. She then joined the Pakistan School of Fashion Design (PSFD), now PIFD, where she taught for eight years and developed the textile curriculum. During her tenure at PIFD, she pursued further studies in textile design, accessories, and fashion drawing from La Chambre Syndicale De la Couture, France. She was also selected by JETRO, the Japanese External Trade Organization, for further training at Bunka College of Fashion, Tokyo.She joined BNU in 2004 and established the textile design department, where she has been for 16 years since its inception. She has received training in the conservation of textiles and completed her Master’s Degree in Linguistics from BNU in 2014, which she believes is an essential link between language and arts. She feels that 'all textiles convey a different story, and it is through language that we understand this story.' The Department of Textiles is actively engaged in craft revival and was awarded the esteemed international Mac Jannet Prize by the Tallories Network for a community craft Project called the 'Humnawa Project,' in collaboration with Sungi and Bunyaad under the Punjab Skills Development Programme, to empower women in Southern Punjab. She developed a curriculum on 'Innovative Design' for empowering rural women, a joint venture with Kaarvan Craft Foundation. This project with Kaarvan Craft Foundation follows the same structural model as 'Humnawa,' whereby 1600 women will be trained in clusters. The curriculum designed will serve as a template to provide exposure and encourage innovative thinking for all underserved craft practitioners in South East Asia.She was Artist in Residence at Art Address, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, in July 2018. She also designs for the textile sector and has developed designs for Mausummery Lawn, Sitara Textiles, and Five Star Lawn. She runs her personal Embellishment Design Studio, engaging local embroidery craftsmen and developing custom-made hand-embroidered textiles.

B.Des., National College of Arts, Lahore; Studies in Textile Design, Accessories, and Fashion Drawing, La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, FranceM.Sc in Linguistics, Beaconhouse National University