Smriti Irani, India’s union minister of textiles, recently
made an announcement that made many people
happy, particularly those in the Indian clothing industry.
Speaking at the “Textile Conclave” at the Vibrant
Gujarat Global Summit, Irani said that the central government
will launch a study to create a first-of-its-kind
“Size India” project.
“In the apparel export segment, one of the biggest
challenges is that the UK has its size, the US has its size,
and Europe has its size of measurement. But, India does
not have it,” she said, according to a PTI report.
According to a Business India report, the National
Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has already
started developing the Indian size chart by measuring
25,000 people in six regions of the country. If you happen
to be visiting India and a stranger approaches you
with a measuring
tape, please don’t
run away. Even if you
consider yourself too thin or too fat to be measured,
please do it for the sake of India’s apparel industry and
the entire economy. Don’t worry: Your measurements
will be not be published anywhere. If you are single, you
will still have a chance of getting married.
Only 14 countries around the world currently have their own clothing size charts. India is planning to join the exclusive club and say to everyone, “Indians measure up.”
If you’re skeptical about the economic benefits of this move, perhaps the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) can convince you.
“The project will provide immense benefit to the consumers by getting standardized sizes, far better fitting clothes, and avoiding wrong and wasteful purchases,” CMAI president Rahul Mehta said in a press release. “It will benefit the manufacturers, retailers, and brands by eliminating consumer returns and wasteful inventory.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge.
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