India’s premier fashion college, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) joins hands with the IFF Innovation Club to conduct a certification programme for fashion professionals at the 15th annual mega congregation of the India Fashion Forum (IFF) scheduled from the18th to the 20th of March, 2015 in Mumbai.
Announcing the programme, Mr. Prem Kumar Gera, IAS, Director General, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) said, “It’s a challenging time for design and merchandising professionals in the business as the consumer shopping for fashion has undergone a dramatic transformation. Understanding of changing shopping patterns, perceptions, price points, POS attractions, delivery models and new fashion cycles are important to create trend-ahead and viable fashion for the evolving customers. The three-day NIFT-IFF Certification programme will not only educate the participants on global fashion, market and consumer trends, but will also decipher the changing dynamics and mechanics of new age fashion sourcing, buying and merchandising.”
Senior faculty members of NIFT with mentors will guide participants to join the relevant IFF Trends, Design, Merchandising/ Buying masterclasses/ roundtables/ sessions and take them for a guided walkthrough to the innovations and trends arenas to integrate the theoretical talk with practical learning (colours, or silhouettes, or fabrics). Then in the practical walkthroughs, participants will experience the real touch and feel of the new innovations by some of the top textile and fashion brands. Participants will be awarded a certificate after successful completion of their programme.
“With the declared IFF Mission to: FORECAST, CREATE, and TRANSFORM THE BUSINESS OF FASHION and with the Theme of this year’s IFF’15 being– Creating and Retailing Winning Fashion in an Omni-channel Era, this visionary new NIFT-IFF Certification Programme platform was just the right to both get the design and merchandising fraternity on board, as well as fostering the much needed holistic vision era of fashion, perhaps right at the grassroot levels,” said IFF Chief Convenor Amitabh Taneja. “INDIA FASHION FORUM (IFF) has been the platform to convert vibrant fashion thoughts into business and as part of our endevour to work more closely with the fashion creation fraternity to overall nurture the business of fashion, we are in the process of building a strong community of fashion professionals engaged in research, development, innovation and creation of lifestyle fashion and support them through all our knowledge platforms, he said and added, “What Fashion Weeks are to haute couture, IFF is to prêt and it is the only platform for fashion industry professionals from all functional areas to come for knowledge, networking, business and recognition.
“Fast Fashion is the way forward to excite consumers and encourage them to buy fresh and look trendy. NIFT-IFF programme will be extremely effective for our designers, product development, sourcing & merchandising teams to understand trends and adaptation techniques, discuss fast fashion ideas with the masters and explore possibilities with fashion ingredients exhibited at the forum”, said Dr. Naresh Tyagi, Founder Member of the IFF Innovation Club and Head – Product Development & Quality Assurance, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle.
Taking about the NIFT-IFF Certification programme, which will also encompass the IFF KNOWLEDGE SERIES and ROUNDTABLES, Mr. Shreyas Joshi, Chairman, IFF Innovation Club (CEO, Textiles & Clothing Business, NSL Group) explained that the IFF KNOWLEDGE SERIES ON TRENDS will see WGSN experts presenting ‘WGSN INstock – FUTURE FASHION CREATIVE – WINNING FASHION INTELLIGENCE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS’. The combination of insights required to create compelling fashion creations remains one of the biggest opportunities to craft your winning collection, with Trend intelligence at the core of picking up the latest trends and converting them into a collection which sizzles at the ramp and at the shelves. Learn how you can bridge the gap between product design and trading on the retail floor, through strategic intelligence, inspirational trend forecasts and actionable data insights. In a world of technology enabled consumers, a wrong decision can cost millions. Sourcing millions of data points from 11 million SKUs every day, WGSN INstock uses advanced data science to enable fashion companies to make better buying and pricing decisions throughout the product lifecycle.
NIFT-IFF Certification programme participants will have the opportunity to interact with WGSN INstock solution specialist, Mr. Tim Perkins on ‘Data Analytics In Trend Validation’. Describing the programme Mr. Perkins said, “Managing relevant, timely and efficient product ranges is one of the greatest challenges an apparel merchant faces and one of the biggest influences on this range is trend. Fashion trends invariably impact each decision made during a product’s life cycle, decisions which carry financial implications. Compounding this is trends in fashion move at a rapid pace, continually evolving, with longevity hard to predict. Striking the right relationship between internal and external research and professional instinct around how to invest in these trends is vital. Fortunately, technology is now providing apparel merchants with a new layer of intelligence to aide with this predicament. The global growth of ecommerce in the apparel industry allows for the burgeoning science of data analytics to shine a light on the industry. It provides valuable insight into ways fashion retailers can de-risk, validate and adapt their strategies faster and with more confidence than ever before. WGSN INstock interprets the e-commerce catalogues of major retailers and brands across the UK, Europe, North America and Australia to enable fast, confident trading decisions for commercial teams”.
Mr. Joshi further explained that another ROUNDTABLE titled ‘SOURCING, BUYING AND MERCHANDISING IN THE DECADE OF PERSONALISATION’ will delve on the subject – “How to Build Niche Positioning and USP Through Sourcing Unique Products That Embody Your Brand.” For brands and retailers, their collection is their pride. It’s an art which they practice daily – the passion which they work towards everyday in sourcing the best products from the world over to make an eclectic range available to the consumer in their stores which excites [him], and in turn differentiates and uniquely positions them from the vast range in the market. With the new-age Technology that has made the consumer savvier and smarter than ever – smartphones, tablets, social networks, marketplaces and the development of global e-commerce has given users unprecedented amounts of tools to discover products and brands from all over the world. Retailers need to bring the same freshness in [our] products and variety. Consumers want something other than the same products that they’ll most likely see on their friends, colleagues and family. Customers are looking for: something different – something unique – something that reflects their personality and style – something that allows them to stand out. Therefore, a more sophisticated customer in the pursuit of differentiation needs, is changing the mandate keenly awaiting to see how retailers and brands source their brands and products. The roundtable will in due course also explore many perspectives on How to Source, How to Buy, and How to Merchandise.
Other roundtables include one moderated by Manoviraj Khosla, Fashion Designer – HOW THE BEST FASHION DESIGNERS DRAW THEIR INSPIRATION and another one ‘INTERNATIONAL TRENDS (FALL 2015) SHAPING THE FUTURE OF FASHION IN WOOL by Roy Kettlewell, Global Innovations Manager of Australian Wool Innovation, Australia and Birgit Gahlen, Milan based Specialist of The Woolmark Company and Wool Lab.
While there will be 5 more important sessions for the members, participants of the programme will also have the Opportunity to meet fashion visionaries like Bonnie Brooks of Saks Fifth Avenue.
Inviting Fashion Professionals working with Brands & Private Labels, Manufacturers & Exporters, Buying Houses, and Retailers to join the The IFF Innovation Club, the IFF Chief Convenor said, " the Club entitlements include round the year benefits including privilege access to all IFF knowledge platforms - online research, publications, daily briefs, exhibitions, ‘Knowledge Series’ programme, online promotion, social media connect and lots more.” The club membership offers a special package to attend ‘IFF Knowledge Series’ master classes, round tables and sessions on Trend Forecasting, Design Inspirations, Runway interpretations, Visual Merchandising, Sourcing etc. conducted by world’s top DESIGN THINKERS, SOURCING EXPERTS, TREND AGENCIES besides an opportunity for one-on-one inter-action. Members can also opt for the NIFT-IFF Certification programme without any extra fees.
Sighting a 10 point agenda for the fashion development community, Mr. Taneja talked about the IFF Fashion Design Incubation Zone to promote young designers at IFF. It will be the launch pad for them to present their collections to the top brands and retailers operating in India. Also both online and off-line majors are eager to meet hundreds of new partners at the IFF. This brings a unique opportunity for budding entrepreneurs, SMEs and creative professionals to get instant access to the market. Understanding the business dynamics in the coming omni-channel era will be one of the major objectives for the club members, he added.
Talking about IFF’s role in shaping the future of fashion in India Mr. Taneja said, “IFF was born alongside the genesis of organized modern retail, out of a pure passion to boost fashion creation and consumption in India. The modus operandi was to catalyse the business to think FASHION FORWARD, plan for the LONG HAUL, and act with CREATIVE INTELLIGENCE. Every year since then, the IFF has been the focal point for fashion captains to converge – LEARN, SHARE and EVOLVE– with the single minded agenda to fast forward growth for the entire value chain — from yarn to retail. Experts have deemed the IFF as “easily the most focused and smartest fashion business conclaves in Asia”. “To put it simply, it is widely acknowledged that IFF provides the finest platform for fashion creators and the retail community to focus on the FAST-EVOLVING ASPIRATIONS of consumers and continuously challenge and reinvent themselves.
“The BIG excitement for the entire design fraternity is the IFA ‘Best Fashion Design Concept of the year’ awards,” said ace fashion designer Narendra Kumar. “I call upon all fashion companies to nominate their design and development teams for this prestigious title and help the deserving teams to get the due recognition at an international platform like IFA”, he said. A NIFT alumnus himself, Narendra Kumar was looking forward to the 2nd Annual NIFT Alumni Meet which will also be held within the IFF and meet industry friends coming from all parts of the world.
Click here to view IFF agenda
Click here to register for NIFT Alumni Meet
Click here to register for IFF Innovation Club Membership/ NIFT IFF Certification Programme for Fashion Design, Merchandising, Buying and Sourcing Professionals
Click here to register for IFF Privilege Club Membership with round the year privileges and Privilege Access to IFF.
Click here to register for IFF Delegate to attend Conference, Knowledge Series, Round Tables, Networking Meets, Business Lunches, Gala Dinners & Awards
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