Interviews

Professor Dilys Williams is Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion, (CSF) a University of the Arts (UAL) Research Centre based at the London College of Fashion. Williams’ work draws on her extensive experience as a lead womenswear designer with international collections including Katharine Hamnett and Liberty alongside an internationally recognised teaching and research portfolio. Trained at Manchester Metropolitan University and holding a UAL professorship, Williams publishes widely on...

How do you see the Indian textiles and apparel industry as a whole shaping up over the next few years? Do you think things look good? Neelesh Hundekari: Things look good, but they could be better. If you look at the upstream part of the value chain, which is yarn and fabric, India has a solid competitive advantage, maybe more in yarn and less in fabric. In garmenting, we have lost the plot. In terms of retail, it is an attractive market, one that will evolve on its own. I think there are quite a...

What percentage of your products (manufactured and/or retailed) are made of cotton fibres (both in terms of units as well as the number of product lines)? Aditi Somani: Depending on the season and theme of the collection, we alter the use of cotton fibres from 40–70 per cent of the collection. In my spring summer collection, 80 per cent is cotton-based. Siddhant Gupta: About 45 per cent. Manish Tripathi: The major amount—90 per cent of the product line—is cotton-based. Pankaj Anand / Anil Arora...

What are the trends in sportswear / activewear / outdoor wear purchases that you have been noticing over the last few years? What are the changes? Jennifer Kapasi: The Indian casual and sportswear market has evolved significantly over the last couple of years. The industry has witnessed rapid growth, driven by growth in income levels, changing lifestyles and the entry of foreign players. Over the past few years, the Indian market has seen a drastic change with respect to global fitness trends...

Bud Kilby: CEO and President, Renfro Corporation Please tell us more about this new deal with Walmart. After all, if I am not wrong, Renfro has been selling socks to Walmart since the 1970s. Yes, we have sold Walmart since the 1970s and have grown with them. We provide Walmart a variety of products, both branded and private label, across all departments, all genders. We have participated in Walmart’s US manufacturing initiative since its inception several years ago. Renfro was one of the first...

Let's start at the beginning. What's the story behind Fashion Matrix Overseas (FMO)? Vipin Sethi: I entered the industry in 1996 after completing my business training. I worked for an export house for about seven years. She (Seema Sethi) joined me in 2001; we worked in the same company. in 2003, one of our customers gave us the encouragement to move on our own. That's how Fashion Matrix Overseas (FMO) came into existence. When we left all our customers with whom we were working, they wanted to...

So, what brings you to India. Was it because of this event? Buck Kim: Yes, it was. How do you see the Indian market? How long have you been in India? Kim: We have been in India for two years now. It is now that we see a change in India, especially in the textiles and garments industry. This is because of fashion... less quantity and more variety in designs. Kornit Allegro With only seven meters in length, an impressive seven-colours process ink colors, photo-realistic print quality, an ability...

What are the three trends that you see shaping up e-commerce (from the fashion point of view) over the next five years? Abhishek Samdaria: More and more retailers will limit stocks and try to focus on customised merchandise in every major product category. Each collection will become theme-specific in order to give variety to customers. Pricing will play a major role in ecommerce going forward, differentiation for money spent will be the key. Varinder Singh Jawanda: Fashion e-commerce still...

What’s your story? What made you go in for a fashion startup, given that the fashion ecosystem is one that sees the most ruthless competition possible? Kaizad Hansotia: Honestly, I never imagined starting up a business in the fashion space, I mean if you had asked me the same question two years back, I probably would have said no way. Precisely because of the same reason you mentioned, too much competition and little scope of innovation. But after I observed my sister and her many other designer...

This is your second year. What was the response last year that encouraged you to continue with Nayaab this year as well? The first edition of Nayaab took place in Delhi and then Chennai. We received a phenomenal response from the patrons. We garnered a lot of appreciation and glory for the initiative we had taken. It’s not only an exhibition to showcase the latest fashion trends, but also an effort to exhibit old textiles. The positive feedback and the love encouraged us to go ahead with another...