From fashion conscious to conscious fashion! That’s what the recently concluded ‘Denim Talks’ was all about.
The one-day forum, which took place at the Denim Show at Gartex Texprocess India, New Delhi, saw fashion and industry bigwigs come together and share their experiences and global perspectives to keep Indian denim industry in line with circular fashion and also be globally competitive.
The forum, which brought together around 100 professionals, witnessed the launch of denim industry report by Wazir Advisors – their Knowledge Partners.
One of the major takeaways of the aforementioned report was that Bangladesh, over the last decade, has been the biggest market for Indian denim fabric with more than 50 per cent share in India’s exports for 6 years running.
What else was there!
Amidst the industry stakeholders, there were several big fashion brands including the likes of Pepe Jeans, Jack & Jones, Mandhana Retail Ventures Ltd. (Being Human Clothing), Raymond UCO Denim, Reliance Industries and Ginni International, who spoke at length about how Indian denim industry can get in line with sustainability and circular fashion.
On sustainability aspect, Sharad Jaipuria, President, Denim Manufacturers’ Association & CMD, Ginni International Ltd. shared “Fashion industry globally is perceived as less environment friendly, and denim manufacturers today must take the lead in embracing sustainability which needs to be imbibed in the entire textile value chain.”
The speakers at the forum got good applause as they delved deeper into what it means to bring sustainable fashion with denim and the potential of Indian market for sustainable apparels.
One person, who has been working on this front and was also there at the event was, Kriti Tula, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Doodlage.
Speaking at the forum, Kriti said “Fashion is a US $ 3 trillion industry. Only 2 per cent is getting recycled today. We need to have brands that talk about the impact of fashion. The Indian market for fashion conscious accounts to 440 million millennials, which accounts for almost 34 per cent of India.”
Ravikant Prakash, Design Head-India, Arvind Ltd., said “I have seen a great change in buying preferences of consumers. While trends definitely dominate choices, consumers today also want to see a story – where has the garment come from, what processes has it undergone, how has the brand integrated sustainability and so on. Denim is one fabric where reusing makes it more beautiful and that’s a trend that will stay on.”
