"The World Fashion Convention kicked off in Mumbai today. The two day convention being held on September 27 and 28, 2016 is being hosted by the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI). In his opening speech Rahul Mehta President IAF & CMAI spoke about how IAF has been working and supporting various countries. Siting Bangladesh highlighted how IAF played a pivotal role to in uplifting the apparel industry. He said “IAF- provides very active n dynamic support to its members."

The World Fashion Convention kicked off in Mumbai today. The two day convention being held on September 27 and 28, 2016 is being hosted by the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI). In his opening speech Rahul Mehta President IAF & CMAI spoke about how IAF has been working and supporting various countries. Siting Bangladesh highlighted how IAF played a pivotal role to in uplifting the apparel industry. He said “IAF- provides very active n dynamic support to its members.” Mehta said, one of the main goals of every IAF convention is to connect in a profound way the local fashion industry of the host country to the global fashion industry. “India stands out for the size of its domestic market, for its enviable growth rate, for its deep rooted own design tradition, but also for its enormous complexity. In a sense it is also a strong metaphor for emerging economies in the world in general."

The event kicked off with 300 leading delegates both from India and across the world. The two day convention has leading industry stakeholders across the value chain deliberating and presenting insights on various opportunities covering the entire spectrum from manufacturing to technology to branding and retailing.

A packed line up of informative sessions

The two day convention is packed with insightful and informative sessions. The first session ‘New opportunities in Sourcing’ focuses on emergence of Bangladesh, India and a few African nations as major sourcing destinations for apparel brands and manufacturers worldwide in the last decade, with China facing issues of a sharp rise in wages in. Moreover, improved business climate in countries like India has worked in favour, making it a preferred sourcing destination. The session highlights emerging opportunities in these 'new' sourcing destinations and prospects of forging partnerships with local players. It focused on how 'traditional' manufacturing economies are retaining their position in global apparel production chain. The session will include brief presentations and a panel discussion by experts who will share facts and give insights in the global context. The presenters include Prashant Agarwal Jt. Managing Director Wazir Advisors, Alex Thomas, Vice President, VF Corporation, Ms. Belinda Edmonds, Executive Director African Cotton & Textiles Industries Federation (ACTIF), speaking for Africa, Faruque Hassan, Senior Vice President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), speaking for Bangladesh, Ashok Rajani, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), speaking for India, Alexander Shumsky, Executive President, Russian Fashion Council, speaking for Russia among others.

Session 2 focuses on new opportunities in retailing. With growing strength of retail market in emerging nations; Global retailers face the puzzle of combining the specific demands of Indian consumers with their standardized retail structure and operational processes. The session focuses on emerging trends and opportunities in retail sector at the global level and how would these trends translate to the Indian market. How retailers are trying to create a seamless shopping experience while addressing the channel conflict. The session also seeks to answer questions and offer insights into future of fashion retailing. Among the top speakers in this session is B S Nagesh, Founder, TRRAIN and the panellist include Aniruddha Deshmukh, MD& CEO, Mafatlal, Govind Shrikhande, MD, Shoppers Stop, Rakesh Biyani, Director, Future Group, Vinay Nadkarni, MD & CEO, Globus, Manish Mandhana, MD, Being Human & Mandhana Ind.

Session 3 focuses on ‘New opportunities in Technology’. The focus here is on the growing importance of technology in efficient garment processing, use of IT tools in business and business process re-engineering are new driving forces for growth of textile and apparel industry. The idea of the session is to learn from the experts about various technologies, processes and methods that will help in achieving the above mentioned goals. With Mike Fralix, President & CEO, [TC] 2 as the moderator, the session has an impressive lineup of speakers including Mark Jarvis CEO, WTiN, Philippe Ribera, Innovation Director, Lectra, Simon Fernandes, Regional Director, Alvanon, Ms. Vonita Samtani, Vice President (Strategic Channel Partners), WGSN among others.

Session 4 focuses on ‘New Opportunities in Denim’ the session will look to help denim players build on the potential opportunities existing across denim value chain. With Deval Shah, Business Head – Diesel & GAS, Reliance Brands, Harminder Sahni MD, Wazir Advisors as moderator the penalists include Claudio Grotto, Founder, GAS Jeans, Anurag Asthana VP (Sourcing) Myntra, Subir Mukherjee, Business Head (Denim), Bhaskar Industries, Sanjay Vakharia, Director & COO, Spykar Lifestyle among other top names. Session 4 focuses on brand and new opportunities there with. It delves on how should brands look at branding to stay relevant and connected to their core consumers? How are brand strategies evolving in this dynamic world? This session seeks to answer some of these questions and offer insights into new opportunities in branding in global context. The keynote presenter is Bruce Atherley, Executive Director, CCI with moderator Darlie Koshy, DG & CEO, IAM & ATDC and the panellist include Ashish Dixit, President, Madura Garments, Gaurav Mahajan, President (Apparel), Raymond, Ms. Manjula Tiwari, CEO, Future Style Lab, J Suresh, CEO & MD, Arvind Brands among others.