'Traditional textiles degenerating in India'

Ahmedabad, Sep 29 (UNI) National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) faculty member Sangita Shroff has rued the degeneration of traditional textiles over the years.

To cut on costs and playing to populist markets, processes are shortened, fiber content is reduced and effort is diluted, Ms Shroff rued while presenting her paper on ''Indian Textile Industry: Fashion Designers' Perceptions'' at a two-day conference ''Texcellence 07'' focussing on textile and allied sectors here today.

She cited the examples of Gujarat's ''Mashroo'', ''Gaji'' and ''Atlas'' fabrics in this regard. Pure silk has been replaced by rayon and viscose, and twists in yarns have reduced resulting in yarn weight reduction.

''Technology design partnerships are lacking in India. Because creative designers have not had the support to do research and development, they are forced to be our sweat shop styling copycats,'' Ms Shroff said.

Technology in fashion markets has to be employed intelligently, rationally as well as emotionally, Ms Shroff said. Designer is the bridge between the forward and backward linkages in the supply chain, but this fact is lost on the industry, Ms Shroff rued while highlighting the need to create teams working in synergy rather than in isolation.

UNI