If Day 1 belonged to the international buyers at the 60th edition of the India International Garment Fair (IIGF) being held in New Delhi, Day 2 was the visiting time for local buying agencies.
Teams from Impulse, Continuum, 3A Clothing, RV International, Sears, among many others were seen at the event. The number of smaller buying agents representing stores abroad was much larger in number and they were busy checking prices and taking notes. Not many of them were interested to share what they were looking for, but all agreed that the current policy decisions by the Government have put added pressure on agency business, as prices have become highly competitive.
What was a common thread among the buying teams was the confidence that given the right support, the Indian garment exporter had the wherewithal to attract the attention of global buyers. One buying agent on the promise of anonymity very strongly felt that enough efforts were not going on in promoting the Indian capabilities. What appealed to the buyers most was stoles, prints and handwork.
Sourcing from India for the last 15 years, Twinset S.P.A., from Italy has complete faith in the design potential of the country. The company is represented by Preeti Walia in India who was happy to see some of the collections at the IIGF. “I particularly liked some stoles and embroidered garments, but will decide after going through all the booths,” said Preeti. Twinset has 80 stores in Italy and is working in high-end products that could fetch a fob of even US$100, but the average fob would be around US $ 20. India is very important to the buying strategy of the company, as 70% of products are sourced from the country, while the remaining 30% of basic/core lines are sourced from China. Hand embroidery is at the core of most of the products sourced from India.
The Continuum team was concerned about the viability of India given the pressure on prices. “Every buyer is asking for sustainability along with all of the other traditional requirements, including PD, yet no one is willing to shell out anything extra,” bemoaned Gurmeet Bhatia, Compliance and Supply Chain Manager, Continuum. His views were seconded by many. Adding to the thought, Naveen Sehgal of RV International felt that the government did not have a true picture of the situation and urged Apparel Resources to put the facts more strongly.
A buying team from Sri Lanka of H.P.K. Gayathrika, Fashion Designer and Dashmani Pilapitiya, Head of Design/Merchandising & Planning were exploring options of design input, as they are keen to introduce their menswear label ANATIONZ to the Indian consumer and also launch a womenswear line on similar lines with prime focus on linen. A very satisfied buyer was Izzy Shani, GM Badimtlv, Israel who handles home furnishing business for his company. He is expecting 30 per cent growth in total business of the company, which besides home is also into apparel segment.
For the exporters, while some were very disappointed, others were happy as they met buyers and felt that orders will definitely follow. Manav Singhal, Director, Dexter Apparels, Noida was happy as buyers showed keen interest their kids wear collection. Working mostly with Europe buyers, the company is associated with many top brands. Nitesh Jain, Director of Renu Creation, Ludhiana participated first time in IIGF as he is entering into export. Nitesh was also happy with the buyers’ footfall.
Another company that was also participating for the first time in the show was Ayush Export, Mumbai was not happy with the visitation as footfall was less compared to the expectation of GS Ashoka, proprietor of the company. The company is also expanding its capacity with a small unit in Bangalore.
Ajay Sawhney, Regional General Manager, India, Middle East, Africa, Sears Sourcing India was the chief guest at the award ceremony to recognise the best booths. The gold trophy went to Cheer Sagar Exports, Jaipur for its beautifully decorated and innovative presentation.
