InFashion 2011 themed at Innovation

InFashion 2011 commenced on a bright note with Innovation as its key theme. It is one of the biggest events and is one of South East Asia's Premier Textile Exhibition and Conference. It is a platform which hosts the entire textile and apparel manufacturing and fashion fraternity together under one roof. This enables them to buy, source and view the latest innovations from the business of fashion at one location. Held on 15th March 2011, it was a three day trade fair at Bombay Exhibition Centre. InFashion 2011 is an important event with the emergence of India as a global leader in this space.

Apart from interesting panel discussions where industry stalwarts stressed upon the need for innovation in the segment, FAITMA and Birla Cellulose also launched Project Spun Shades. Dyed at the production stage, Spun Shades is an innovative fibre. Usually the fibre is not coloured, it is spun into yarn and then woven into cloth which is then coloured. However in the case of Spun Shades, the fibre itself is coloured which then removes the step of colouring the cloth down the line.

Dr. P R Roy, Director, Fiber2Fashion, Malwa group, NSL textiles and former Group CEO, Arvind mills gave a the key note address in the opening session which was titled "Innovation in Textile and Apparel Value Chain'. This session addressed issues like supply chain, denims and the like within the sector.

The second session focused on the supply chain for textile and clothing. Shreyas Joshi, President, Raymond Apparel, chairing the session, mentioned that it is critical for every part of textile and garmenting business to innovate in every aspect of the business. The panel comprised of Rajiv Ranjan, President, Mafatlal industries, Pawan Jain, CMD, Safexpress, Samar Sharma, President Apparel, Kamadgiri Fashion and Dr PR Roy.

There also was a session on innovation in Denim and Jeans Value Chain. The panel consisting of Rajiv Dayal, MD, Mafatlal Denims, Rajesh Narkar, Malwa Group, Prabir Bandyopadhyay, LNJ Denims, and Sandeep Verma, Killer Jeans brainstormed on various issues faced by the Denim market in the country. Panelists voiced that the Denim market is very nascent in India and has a long way to go and innovation will play a key role in the same.

InFashion also had a discussion where small entrepreneurs ran successful business and discussed at length what their secrets were which could help other businesses. Other issues like identifying colours and supply and demand were also elaborated upon the eminent panelists. | By Janees Antoo [janees(at)adgully.com]