Developing the Fashion Ecosystem- The Future of Fashion Forum

The Future of Fashion Forum, 2015, a prominent fashion event that brought the who’s who of the fashion industry on one platform. The event that was on 24^th January, 2015 saw a huge number of fashion enthusiastic coming to attending the Forum that not only aimed to enlighten the students, but also to give a chance to interactive with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry.

After the inauguration ceremony, the first session of the day started with an interesting topic that was Developing the Fashion Ecosystem. The event was presented by Vinay Nadkarni (MD & CEO Globus Stores Pvt Ltd), Anjana Sharma (COO & Fashion Director stylista.com) and Payal Singhal (Fashion designer). Each one of the speakers gave great insights on the current fashion scenario. “Locally produced fabric to create a sustainable ecosystem is the trend that’s coming in” is what Payal Singhal believes.

Taking the topic further, the panel spoke about the fashion consumed by the masses. “Tier 2&3 cities are not a restriction these cities consume more in comparison to metro, through e-commerce”, Vinay Nadkarni said. Talking about e-commerce, he said, “The buying habits of the customers have changed over the past few years. E-commerce is booming.”  To this Payal Singhal added that, “India is a booming e-commerce nation with a huge population of technologically aware youth.” She also added that, “Digital has given designers bigger platforms and wider reach to showcase their collection to their clientele.”

Talking about Indian Fashion, Vinay Nadkarni said that it is necessary to “maintain ‘Indianness’ in whatever you create, a huge market lies ahead to consume the vibrancy of colors and the Indian essence.” Even Payal Singhal commented on similar lines saying, “India has been a global style trendsetter from the very beginning” and also,“India has always been a global style influencer. There is no other place that provides cultural heritage as we do.”

This session also dealt with the importance of creating a right retail brand building approach and adoption the right business structure. The first thing that Vinay Nadkarni says about this is that, “Research, understand the market, and cater to your clientele.” Payal Singhal elaborates it by saying, “Know your brand vision, execute your ideas, know your clients, maintain the identity to make your brand visible and relevant. Creativity and commercial viability is a balance that one needs to strike to appeal to the clientele.” Also that, “Consumer feedback is imperative to make garments saleable.”

Lastly, Payal Singhal advises the young aspirants present to, “Keep innovating and to also be unique to succeed in an extremely competitive fashion world.”