“SIZE INDIA” MAY GIVE BOOST TO CLOTHING INDUSTRY
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 Don’t worry: Your measurements will be not be published anywhere.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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