Interview with Darlie O Koshy, Katie Greenyer & Stephanie Dick
Darlie O Koshy, Katie Greenyer & Stephanie Dick
NISTI Chairman, TI (UK) President, & TI (UK) CEO The Textile Institute
From a ‘sunset’ mindset to ‘sunshine’ approach
The North India Section of Textile Institute (NISTI), established in 1989, has the largest membership of Textile Institute in the country. Its organic growth has been fuelled by regular professional activities engaging both members and outsiders. The Textile Institute (TI) is a professional body for people and organisations working in the textiles, clothing and footwear associated industries worldwide. For more than 110 years, the institute has been bringing together professionals from all over the world for the exchange of ideas, and a social community promoting friendship among members. NISTI Chairman Darlie O Koshy, TI (UK) President Katie Greenyer and TI (UK) CEO Stephanie Dick speak to Richa Bansal about the context in which the 33rd foundation day of NISTI is being observed today.
This 33rd foundation day comes in the backdrop of a Black Swan event. What is the agenda that NISTI is likely to set for itself to help the beleaguered textiles industry to mitigate losses to enterprises and their people?
Koshy: The textiles industry in India is centred around thousands of handlooms and powerlooms and several hundreds of MSMEs and micro enterprises in the downstream apparel sector. The COVID-19 pandemic has no doubt brought upon the humanity an unprecedented health crisis lethal in its reach and destruction of lives and livelihoods in the sector. On the one side, there is a demand contraction while on the other there is an acute shortage of labour in the cities owing to the exodus of migrant workers. The silver linings are: the thrust on diversification through MMF and technical textiles, and the thrust on manufacturing of PPE kits and allied medical products.
It is no wonder now that India leapfrogged to become the second largest manufacturer of PPE kits in a short span of time showing that necessity is the mother of invention and scarcity is the mother of innovation. There is also a spurt in production of home fashion, informal homewear, athleisure and performancewear in the recent past. This sets the motivation to show the world the great resilience of the Indian textiles industry.
Notably, exports are showing positive growth, but the supply chains are still disturbed and the closure and largescale closures of retail stores and malls in many parts of the world have been a major letdown. India while having managed the first wave of COVID spread well enough has been massively hit in one way or other in the second destructive wave.
Indian textiles industry has proven strength of excellent human resources and technical and creative professionals with over 100 textile institutes and over 500 fashion-related departments in universities and other vocational colleges.
This is the time to bring more positivity to move from a ‘sunset’ mindset to ‘sunshine’ approach. NISTI will attempt to generate and work towards more positivity through reaching out to industry stakeholders to strengthen the textile clusters and for improvement of productivity and academia and research organisations to bring focus on sustainable practices and pushing the envelope and sharing global next and best practices.
With the arrival of the ‘new normal’ and technological transitioning in industry, there is a need to focus on reskilling and upskilling; and to rapidly new skill the cohorts currently in this value chain in the context of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. NISTI would attempt in assisting industry towards execution excellence. There is a need to lift ourselves from the slumber of complacency and hubris to move the industry to a futuristic plane.1
As the world continues to fight this accursed pandemic, the critical need to purge planet earth of as many pollutants as possible becomes stronger than ever. Any thoughts on the direction NISTI would like to take up, considering that you do conduct courses, etc?
Dick: Over 20 years ago, I was introduced to NISTI and I have since that day been taking their advice and guidance on all matters related to the industry in India and its place in the global market. There is a wealth of knowledge and strength within NISTI which has key players from our industry as well as academia, government officers and those from the training and skills arena who are part of its executive committee. NISTI was built on expertise, networking, sharing knowledge, and collaboration for the betterment of the global textiles industry.
The mission of the Textile Institute is to promote professionalism in all areas associated with textile industries worldwide. It is an association of people throughout the world which unites those with an interest in textiles. For more than 110 years, the institute has been bringing together professionals from all over the world for the exchange of ideas, and a social community promoting friendship among members.
Now more than ever as we all face this global pandemic, the ethos of the Institute is ever important and as a global organisation we will do what we can to fulfil the mission of the royal charter alongside its charitable objectives.
Events and training courses under the banner of education is of great importance to the TI. NISTI will continue to provide industry events to keep members and industry up to date with the latest information both locally and globally and the TI is committed to disseminating this information for all. Training courses are conducted via the head office in Manchester in digital format, and NISTI will be able to mirror these services as we embrace new technology, sharing the best experts from around the world making sure that all have access.
NISTI has key industry and education partners who are part of the training arena and it will react to what is required by the industry. Programmes can be devised which can be approved by the head office whereby delegates taking the course can use their credits to apply for a TI chartered professional qualification. As an organisation we are here to cater for all regardless of educational background and we are offering an inclusive education model built on experience, skills and training as well as academic achievement. Members of the NISTI executive committee can guide members and non-members at all levels who are part of our global industry. The TI offers bespoke courses for industry calling on experts, and this can be disseminated throughout the organisation.
It is often thought that to be reactive is negative, but I don’t believe that is the case. NISTI is here now to react to what the local and global industry needs and will strive to bridge that gap and that is open for discussion.
We live in a global village today. Can the plan for revival work out ways and means whereby the entire integrated value chain works cohesively vertical by vertical? Very ambitious I know, but not entirely impossible maybe.
Greenyer: The pandemic has caused us to rethink how we work and live our lives, global travel for people and products has never been more disrupted but this reduction and disruption has had a very positive impact on our environment and the sustainability of our planet.
As we come out of this pandemic and plan for revival and growth, we need to ensure that we continue to have a positive impact on the sustainability of our planet. One of the ways we can do that is by utilising supply partners who have vertical supply capability, reducing the reliance on transportation of raw materials or partly constructed product, and reducing the number of touch points within the production of the product. We need to work with suppliers who have this capability to improve their capability and efficiency to make this an attractive proposition for its customers.
The is an overall organisational holistic view, but we also have to manage how we do things on a daily basis. It is important to have a practice that encourages you at every step to think about the impact of our individual actions as well as what the organisation is striving to achieve. Below is an example of what Katie would remind her students and new graduates about to be mindful of when applying their skills and designing a product. It is so important to be aware of the environment we work within and the external environment we affect. The list is not exhaustive and ever evolving but a mantra to work with and develop.
•Has the footwear design considered the manufacture from materials that are sustainably produced, responsibly sourced and limiting the use of coatings or restricted substances?
•Has the design considered recycling or re-use, lessoning the potential environmental impact of the shoe?
•Has packaging, and freight been considered?
•Is the design easy clean, durable, long-lasting, or is there a repair programme in place, ensuring that fewer pieces of product, end up being disposed of?
•Has the design concept considered optimised factory processes or a reduced energy consumption programme?
•Is there a consideration to a practical end-of-life programme for the concept?
•Does the design have minimal impact on the environment?
Would NISTI be taking a closer look at countries which have fared worse than others?
Koshy: Studying competitors may not be the right approach. Our competitors in various segments have also suffered as the reports indicate like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc. China has been resilient with a lot of innovations taking place by even holding special fairs to sell various health products related to the COVID-19 pandemic which shows that a strong industry response is often the fitting response, and our industry has also shown the intent as can be seen in the case of PPE kits and allied medical textiles and products.
Relatively less developed countries, such as African countries, have now started to adopt state-of-the-art technologies. India needs to reach out to many such regions to collaborate. India’s human resources are second to none and with edge in both design and technology can regain its leadership position.
Published on: 24/05/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
