Changing Face of Fashion Business: Future of Fashion Forum

The Future of Fashion Forum that took place on 24^th January, 2015, an initiation by Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion in which the very best of the fashion industry was present. The main focus of the event was to share the knowledge and insights with the aspirants along with giving an opportunity to the fashion fanatics to interact with the very best from the fashion world.

The day kicked off with an interesting session on Developing the Fashion Ecosystem which was followed by an equally interesting session on the Changing Face of Fashion Business. India is entering a new phase in the fashion business where e-commerce is taking root and the fashion world has become more competitive. To deal with these and more topics renowned Fashion Designer Gaviin Migule, the Managing Partner of Exclusively.in Mohini Boparai, and the Fashion Director of Verve Magazine Nisha Jhangiani were present.

All the panel members stressed, on the importance of ‘building your brand, identify your audience and then dig in deep down, research to understand your audience.’ To this Mohini Boparai, added, “Know your target audience, and talk to them in a language that appeals to them.”

In the recent years, there are more fashion outlets coming up online than one cares to count. Moreover, fashion is subjected to change, trends are broken and created every day and in this ever changing market you need to get your brand across. In this matter, Mohini Boparai commented that, “A fashion e-commerce site has to keep catering newness to its clientele with new collection and products.” In order to be in the e-commerce platform “balancing the power of digital and print is vital to reach the audience” Nisha Jhangiani added.

Gaviin Migule shared his views on the current fashion scenario, but it was his insightful advice to the aspiring designer saying that, “Be true to yourself and be passionate about what you create” that made a lasting impact giving a beautiful conclusion.  

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.”

Fashion Fusion: Where East Meets West

The Indian fashion industry has grown several fold and is all set to ascend still further, and Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion organized a never before event where renowned fashion experts came together to discuss just how this change would come about. ‘The Future of Fashion Forum’ was held on 25^th January, 2014 and touched upon several themes relevant to the Indian fashion industry.

Amongst the topics that were discussed, the emergence of luxury brands, growth of fashion retail and significance of e-commerce were hot topics. The event ended on a very stylish note with an exchange on the Influence of Western Silhouettes in the Indian Hemisphere and who better than the styling elite to talk about it! Tanya Ghavri (Celebrity Stylist), Pearl Shah (Fashion Stylist) and Ekta Rajani (Fashion Director of Grazia) graced the stage.  

Right until the turn of the millennium in 2000 there was a sense of east emulating the west. The presence of fashion weeks in our country brought about a change in this thinking and Ekta Rajani believes that the future of contemporary Indian fashion is bright. We are appreciating and loving what we do here and adapting to the global lifestyle instead of looking westward. Tanya Ghavri agrees and adds that there is awareness; people want to know about global fashion for which social media, Bollywood and fashion magazines are popular channels of discovery and exploration. What is beautiful to Ekta is to see a lot of Indian designers using Indian fabric in the western context, thus creating space for these contemporary designers. The fusion of east and west by some leading designers is truly stunning.

Ekta continued by defining the role of a stylist, whose main role lies in expanding upon one’s sense of individuality. People are making an effort to dress and look their best, and this is where a stylist comes into play. A designer will work with a person’s look, whereas a stylist plays with separate elements and helps a person define their own personal sense of style. A stylist puts things into context, contextualizing from the hair to the makeup to the shoes to the right kind of accessories, making sure nothing is overdone.

To Pearl Shah, fashion is closely linked to trade. A stylist has to be versatile, like a Chameleon, changing styles from one to another and yet another depending on what they seek. The advice to young aspirants was to take a year off and do an internship, explore your options and see what works best for you. Style and Fashion are such ubiquitous elements of the society that it is always in a state of evolution and one cannot wait to see what tomorrow’s fashionistas have in store for us!

  

The Future of e-Commerce

The colossal boom in the field of information technology has opened up many doors. This phenomenon of ‘E-commerce’ is sweeping across the entire business world, from big-time corporate to small home-run business, and revolutionizing the way we buy and sell. Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion gave an opportunity to young aspirants to get a glimpse into the future of E-commerce through ‘The Future of Fashion Forum’, held on 25 January 2014.

Experts like Rahul Naverkar, who is the CEO at NDTV Ethnic Retail Limited and Co-founder & Director, Brand Sourcing at Fashion and You, along with Krsna Mehta, Founder & Design Director, India Circus Retail Pvt Ltd and Dhimaan Shah, Co-Founder & Managing Director of stylecracker.com spoke about the Significance of E-Commerce in Promoting Indian Fashion.

Rahul Naverkar      Dhimaan Shah         Krsna Mehta   

Rahul Naverkar is of the opinion that E-commerce is a huge enabler for young talent. The online experience really is the best way of reaching out to customers once you get the order, and that is the only major differentiator to regular retail channels. Of course, the front end also differs. Rahul discussed the mentality of the Indian buyer, who is not averse to paying big bucks for brands or products he or she likes instantly. An unknown brand starting purely online lacks credibility, and it needs a physical presence to attain volumes. Once credible enough, online selling is a perfect medium. From a marketing perspective, he opined that lots of brands went online, but very few understood the cost of buying Google ad words, bidding and other expenses related to bringing in relevant traffic. This is the biggest challenge alongside finding the right talent for E-commerce.

Dhimaan Shah jumped in by saying that if technology is leveraged correctly, people are open to it. Just setting up a website won’t ensure views; it takes time along with the presence of offline stores. Dhimaan was cogent in saying Facebook likes and Twitter followers feed only an ego, the real metric of value are signups and sales.

And last, but not the least, Krsna Mehta focuses on Fast Fashion as today’s buzzword. Marketing online is maddening, where social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter play an important role. He gave a winning formula of planning your spend and making it go hand-in-hand with social media. He believes that sites which educate their customers will lead the way in the future. E-commerce is a fantastic enabler for businesses, and utilizing it properly could supercharge your sales in a manner you never imagined possible!

The Rise and Rise of Luxury Brands

The who’s who of fashion industry gazed into the crystal ball and made their predictions at The Future of Fashion Forum. This one of a kind platform was created by Whistling Woods Neeta Lulla School of Fashion and held on 25^th January 2014. The fashion forum saw a diverse array of events covering myriad themes related to the fashion industry being addressed.

Some of the themes that were debated on were the Growth of the Fashion Retail Business, Trends and Insights and so on. The forum was commenced with an insight on the Emergence of Luxury Brands in India. Lulu Raghvan, Managing Director of Landor Associates and Shrenik Khasgiwala, Director of Brand Capital, shared their expert views on the topic.

The new generation of young consumers is the main driver of demand for luxury products and experiences that are all the rage right now. As renowned international brands start to become increasingly available, attitudes of the Indian Consumers too are changing. IMRB, a research agency, has noted four attitudes of the Indian Consumer towards the luxury brands, namely Experimentalist, Connoisseurs, Aesthetics and Flaunters.

Lulu Raghvan spoke about the growth of the global luxury market space in India that is growing at a rate of 20% annually. The opportunities for global luxury brands to thrive in India are increasing year on year. Thus, it is very important for brands to know their segment and consumers intimately and increase their connection with them. She describes the four stages at which the brands can connect to the consumers:

• Awareness
•  Exploration and Consideration
• Purchase
• Post Purchase

Shrenik M Khasgiwala, another prominent figure in this field, shared his views. According to him, self- expression should reflect in the design of the products and it is important for the brand to have a sense of empathy for its client. For any brand, it is important to win the home market. India being such a huge market, it offers a huge challenge even for the savvy marketer. He predicts that in 10 -15 years from now, global trends will originate from India.

The session ended with young participants acquiring immense knowledge on the Emergence of Luxury Brands in India and also with the knowledge that there is a lot of shopping to do in the near and distant future!