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IMAGES Most Admired SOLOx Fashion Professional of the Year – Sanjeev Mohanty, MD South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Levi’s (winner); Nitya Arora, Founder, Valliyan

Most of us are familiar with shopping at any online retailer, e.g., say Amazon. As with most online retailers, you visit its website, shop for items, place them in your cart, pay for them, and then Amazon ships them to you. Right now Amazon’s business model is ‘Shopping-then- Shipping’. During the shopping process, Amazon’s AI offers suggestions of items that it predicts consumers will want to buy. The AI does a reasonable job. As per neutral studies, ‘With millions of product offerings, Amazon gets individual predictions right 5 percent of the time’. That is very impressive considering the width of offerings.

As fashion is full of forecasts, it is important to measure the accuracy of the forecasts and ensure that this metric improves over time. The inspiration for this comes from the world of machine learning. When machine learning models predict, there must be a method to choose the right model. The metric used to measure the accuracy of the prediction is F1 Score.

When this prediction accuracy reaches a threshold, it would make lot more economic sense for Amazon to fi rst ship and then sell. In other words, consumers will get goods and they will keep it if they like it else return the goods. No wonder Amazon fi led a patent in 2013 for ‘Predictive Shipping’.

The Future

One conceivable way that can help retailers bridge the gap is by being in a constant state of dialogue with consumers. Fortunately, we live in a world where technology can bring the impossible to life. The world of digital has created conversations between retailers, mall managers and consumers. While traditional media like print and television may still dominate the media landscape, digital marketing is now beginning to bite off a significant piece of the annual budget.

The Next Wave Of Fashion Planning

Excerpts from the interview…

Speaking on the occasion, Ayyappan Rajagopal, Head of Business, Myntra Jabong, said, “Myntra’s association with ‘Pernia’s POP-UP SHOP’ marks our foray into the luxury segment, which is beginning to emerge as a popular category online. We are witnessing a strong demand for premium products on our platform and this association strongly enhances our position as a leading destination for women’s ethnic wear. Myntra’s reach and popularity will now take designer labels to the door steps of discerning fashion shoppers across the nation.”

Similarly, Study By Janak has also been focusing on innovating not only the product but the entire experience starting at handling the client, production and the final product. Infact, they were the first ones to get 40 Savile Row to India and are still following the guidelines of Savile Row tailoring. They launched it around eight years ago and are seeing a steady growth in the same. They are working on technique and software to give a complete bespoke suit experience on the fingertips.

Endless Options

This collection by Peter England goes to show that men today are experimenting more than ever, wanting to look their finest on all occasions. “Standing out seems to have struck a chord among style-conscious men,” says Salesh Grover, Business Head, OSL Luxury Collections (Corneliani). “According to recent statistics, men are spending more on shopping than women, which indicates a change in trend. The men’s occasion wear market is transforming into a very detail-oriented, fashion conscious segment. It is all about getting noticed and being different.”

The most memorable wedding creations was the one where we developed same attire for the entire family for a special occasion with little changes as per their personalities in terms of colour or silhouette. It was not just heartwarming to see how a wedding brings the entire family together but was equally motivating and challenging to keep each outfit similar yet distinguished as per the personalities of the family members. So, it was designing for the entire family that became the most memorable creation for us as we also became a part of their wedding and story in a unique way.

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said recently, “Companies must use Big Data analytics to redefine the traditional core elements of retailing – Consumers, Merchandise and Stores – and the relationships amongst those elements to upgrade current formats and create new retailoccasions.”

The 1960s witnessed the growing trend of the working class women, who were acquainted to latest fashion through different media, predominantly Hindi cinema as well as English films, and fashion magazines like Femina. During this era, joint fashion shows and beauty contests were conducted, followed by participation of winners in international beauty competitions. Exposure to western culture and fashion images brought about socio-cultural changes, influencing lifestyles and clothing styles of the urban women.

IMAGES Most Valuable Fashion Startups Presentation – Proyog

Also, consumer outlook towards ethnic wear has changed and evolved considerably over time. They are now open to adopting and experimenting with cuts, colors, and hues. This will go a long way in ensuring that ethnic wear continues to be contemporary and interesting.

“The Indian apparel market, pegged at around US$ 65 billion, is the second largest retail market after food & grocery in India. It grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 11.5 percent in the period from 2012-17 and is expected to grow at nearly 11 percent CAGR in 2017-21 period to reach a value of US$ 85 billion by 2021,” the report said.

IMAGES Most Admired Fashion Brand of the year: Jeans & Casualwear – Levi’s

In terms of volume, this market is 1 percent of the total menswear market and is expected to grow by 8 percent in the coming year.

The kids’ ethnic wear market was approximately US $1.6 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 8 percent by 2028. Brands like BIBA and First Cry offer a huge variety in kids’ ethnic wear. For Diwali season 2019, First Cry promoted its ethnic wear merchandise through a video that was uploaded on their YouTube channel and was also promoted through television. Brands are catering to this segment and see huge growth potential in the sector.

“Product innovation remains the main criterion for us and that goes through a transition in every season, we keep pace with global fashion trends before presenting new products in the market. Quality control, product innovation remain the core essence of our designs. We have always preferred to off er our clients in the store experience, feeling the texture of fabric, embroidery and seeing colour contrast, trying the fittings are very important factors before making the purchase decision,” concludes Grover.

“We are constantly innovating to make the experience better for the end-consumer. We believe that our bespoke consultation process is a major asset and we keep working on the same with our team to ensure the best possible bespoke consultation. In terms of design innovation, we work with the latest hand work techniques such as French knot embroidery and we are also experimenting with fabric manipulation on wool,” says Gonsalves.

The major factors which consumers and wedding trousseau buyers keep in mind are comfort and self-expression, with the adoption of prevailing fashion trends and style in the attire. The usability of the attire after the event on multiple occasions. And finally, the wedding attire falling under an affordable budget.

He further adds that in the past few years there has been an increase in online brands hence there has been a significant improvement in customer accessibility.