FKF'06 to kick off on November 16 in Mohali

New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) Fashion gurus from India and abroad will come together under one roof to discuss and forecast the future trends of the Indian fashion design industry at the two-day 'Fashion Knowledge Forum 2006' beginning November 16 in Mohali.

The Rs 220 crore-fashion technology park (FTP) coming up at Mohali has organised this conference on fashion and lifestyle in partnership with industry body CII.

''The FKF'06 will address issues like manufacturing, policy framework, retailing, branding, R&D, thereby providing transferal and information exchange of critical know-how and expertise in the Indian fashion industry,'' FTP CEO Jagjit Singh Kochar told reporters at the curtain raiser of the event here today.

The event will have global industry speakers like Ms Robin Kay, President, Fashion Design Council of Canada; Mr Francois Lavergne, International Project Manager, ESMOD Internatinal, France; Dr Anothai Cholachatpinyo, Department of Textile Science, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand and Indian designers like Neeta Lulla to name a few.

The Indian market has the potential to emerge as the most sought after outsourcing destination for design-led value added services and products, Mr Kochar said.

The FTP, being set up to facilitate the Indian fashion industry with intellectual as well as physical infrastructure to compete with the 450 billion dollar global market, will act as the common outsourcing hub for the fashion designers across India and will be operational by December 2008, said Mr Kochar.

Calling the concept as value addition by design intervention, he added, ''We cannot beat China in mass production but we can create a huge market for our products there. The consumption capacity of China is double that of India with China targeting a 50 per cent share of the global production in the apparel and textile industry.'' On a poser as to how the project has been funded, he said, ''FTP is a self-revenue generating business model and is a 100 per cent privately funded initiative with the government acting as the facilitator. But we want incentives for the rural artisans.'' The 13.76 acre-technology park will cater to all the major players of the trade and will also tap talents scattered in the country at the grassroot level.

Under the FTP project, design studios will be made for fashion designers, who will assist the industry. So far, there are 500 designers registered with the project.

FTP has also tied up with 3,500 self-help groups operational all over Punjab villages, who are being trained by fashion designers in their work. The industry can also take help from the trained artisans as handwork is much in demand abroad, he said.

Business School of Fashion (BSF), a part of the FTP, is also supporting the initiative. An year old-BSF will help FTP reach out to professionals, specialists, artisans and industry in developing a value chain for the fashion industry.

Greenfield Ventures Ltd, which owns the FTP has already pumped in Rs 15 crore as the initial investment for the technology park.

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