Kochi witnessed first of its kind premier conference on fashion industry – India Fashion Summit (IFS) 2016 with the presence of celebrated fashion designers who enchated the occasion through their enlightening talks on fashion.
“When designer wears have completed about 100 years of journey in ‘Style Capitals’ like Paris and Milan. In a short span of time, Indian fashion has carved a niche in the International fashion front. Earlier, Indian fashion was rarely recognised in the international fashion world. But today, Indian designers are renowned in the international fashion arena and they have placed India among the top countries in fashion,”emphasised the world renowned fashion designers while speaking at the ‘India Fashion Summit,’ Kochi. As the demand for designer wears increased, India saw a surge in boutiques, and exclusive designer showrooms of renowned fashionistas poped up in major cities. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, India’s luxury fashion market is expected to cross $ 18 billion in 2016.
Every year the growth rate for fashion industry is about 30%. Likewise, the Indian fashion retail sector in India is emerging as one of the largest sectors in the economy and is currently valued at $ 600 billion. Of this, about 90% is unorganized retail and only 10% is organized. A recent study stated that by 2020, India is expected to generate $ 100 billion online retail revenue out of which $ 35 billion will be through fashion e-commerce. IFS created a platform for fashion entrepreneurs and people in related industries to discuss and enhance the competiveness of the fashion business.
India Fashion Summit (IFS) was held on 4th September at Hotel Crowne Plaza, Kochi. This gala event saw country’s leading designers and industry experts sharing their experience in the industry and addressing the challenges and growth perspectives of the fashion industry. Famous iconic fashion designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Shantanu & Nikhil and Beena Kannnan, Fashion Retail Heads such as Narendra Kumar (Chief Creative Officer, Amazon), Gautam Kotamraju (Creative Head of Private Brands, Amazon), Pernia Qureshi (Founder of Pernia’s Pop Up Shop), Jaspreeth Chandok (Vice President and Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance), Fashion stylist and consultant Prasad Bidapa , fashion journalists NeenaHaridas (Editor, L’Officiel) and Vinod Nair (Former Fashion Editor,Hindustan Times and Times Of India) and designer Sreejith Jeevan were the main speakers for the event.
Department of tourism, Government of Kerala, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation and Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation were the associate partners with India Fashion Summit 2016.