Moving to the Subcontinent

We have so far previewed International Fashion Trends and have decided to focus our attention on the subcontinent India for its unique flavours in terms of fashion. Since the FN team has an India office, we decided to get some inputs from them,as to why India/subcontinent is doing very well in the textile/apparel space.

It is multicultural with a rich diversity of languages and traditions, and it is diversity that manifests itself with India being painted in different colours across the country, even though it stands unified. We will preview Indian fashion pertaining to Business analysis of Textile growth. The total Indian domestic textile market is about $25 billion, while its exports are worth $13 billion. The Indian textile industry has the hand spun woven sector and the capital intensive sophisticated mill sector.India is the largest producer of Jute and the second largest producer of Silk, while being the third largest producer of cotton.

a) Large raw material base - India has a rich raw material base, especially cotton which has seen improved productivity in the country under the Cotton Technology Mission.Apart from that a wide variety of cotton produced India, making India capable of catering to various segments of world trade. The Indian industry has ability to handle different materials - cotton, wool, silk and jute with equal skill

b) Positive developments in the Textile Policy . Reservation for small scale sector, especially key segments removed over last few years and Fiscal anomalies in terms of excise duty structure have been removed

c) Flexibility in production-Capabilities across the entire value chain within the country reduces lead time for production and reduces intermediate shipping time.Indian companies have flexibility and skilled manpower to handle small orders with complex designs.

d) Product development and design capabilities- Apart from this, if one has to look at world famous brand names that buy from India, one finds one of the best names in fashion queing up in India.The Top 10 buyers in India (Gap, Wal-Mart, Li & Fung, The Children’s Place, JC Penny, H&M, Federated, Fifth Avenue, Carrefour and Synergies India) account for 35% of total textiles sourced from India. Other major companies include El Corte, Ecko, Kellwood, VF Corporation, Tesco, Next, Karstadt-Quelle

Our next series of articles will talk about specific Examples of Indian Fashion.Still then stay plugged on to our Fashion Blog, and check www.fashion-networks.com