Indian Fashion Industry is beginning to make its mark
in the global fashion arena. Here is a brief profile of Fashion Industry
in India
Fashion Industry in India
Fashion Industry in India is in nascent stage at the moment and has
great potential to make its mark on the world stage. Indian fashion has
thousands of years of tradition behind it. India has a rich and varied
textile heritage. Each region of India has its own unique native costume
and traditional attire. Fashion Industry in India is growing at a rapid
pace with international events such as the India Fashion Week gaining
popularity and annual shows by fashion designers being held in the major
cities of India.
Indian fashion industry got a big boost by the victories of a number of
Indian beauty queens in International events such as the Miss World and
Miss Universe. Contests such as these made Indian models recognized
worldwide. Indian fashion designers such as Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri, Rohit
Bal, Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, JJ Valaya and Manish Malhotra have
also made their mark in the global fashion arena.
Apart from the rich tradition the strength of the Indian fashion
industry also rests on strong raw material availability. India is the
third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk
and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres in the world. India
also possesses large number of skilled human resources and has among the
lowest labour costs in the world.
With the end of quota regime on January 1, 2005 the prospects for
Indian fashion industry look upbeat. India is among the largest
exporters of textile garments and fabrics. The quota regime restricted
free export of materials and garments from the developing countries,
giving an edge to developed ones. The regime resulted in unfair trade
practices, such as hoarding of licenses for quotas and their eventual
sale in the black market, and the shipping of low quality goods to meet
contract demands. There was little incentive for the manufacturers to
upgrade and improve either their products or manufacturing abilities.
The end of the quota regime heralds the prospects of exponential growth
for the fashion industries of countries like India that had faced quota
restrictions earlier.
Indian fashion industry needs to take following steps to fulfill its
growth potential:
- Indian fashion industry needs to create global image. There are
various agencies that can assist in the brandbuilding exercise. The
Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), other textile promotion
councils, and industry associations such as Confederation of Indian
Industries can market Indian fashion globally.
- Large textiles players must develop linkages with small medium
enterprise (SME) clusters. Such networks would be a win-win for
textile players that can concentrate on demand creation and branding
as well as for clusters that can focus on quality production.
- Indian fashion industry has to forge designer-corporate links as
is the norm in global fashion industry.
- There is a large part of the novice designer community, possibly
more talented, which remains obscure. Hence there is an urgent need
to give exposure to young and budding designers.
If we are able to take the above
mentioned issues to their logical conclusion then there is no reason why
Indian fashion industry cannot achieve its tremendous potential.
Note: The above information was last updated on 21-07-2007
