India's most progressive fashion retailers converge at IFF

Announcing the biggest industry programme for India’s most progressive retail enterprenuers, Amitabh Taneja, Chief Convenor of India Fashion Forum (IFF) said that the Biggest Excitement for fashion retailers is the announcement of IFA Fashion Forward League.

"The league that will finally have 100 of India’s most vibrant fashion retail entrepreneurs – other than the corporates – will see 25 inductions at IFF with a special programme for them including a ‘Retail Manage Mentor’ masterclass, a brainstorming session with key stakeholders and felicitation at the grand Images Fashion Awards (IFA)”.

Talking about the importance of IFF Sanjay Sahni, MD of North India’s most aggressive fashion chain Ritu Wears BigLife says, “IFF has inspired many retailers like us to think big. In fact, I remember that many on the verge of closing shop came to IFF in 2002 and 2003.

Today, they run large chains of MBOs, department stores and single brand franchise stores -- some in their respective regions and some even nationally! Every independent retailer – be it from a metro or from cities like Lucknow, Guwahati, Ranchi, Goa or Coimbatore – once he came to IFF, was never again intimidated by a large department store opening next door.

Most of them have opened store after store, boosted efficiency and delivered more to their respective consumers. As we plan our expansion beyond North & Central India, it will be imperative to exchange notes with our fellow retailers and find many more new friends at the forthcoming IFF”.

Shamsher Singh Hura, a franchisee & distributor in Orissa of premium lifestyle brands, who launched an experiential concept ‘All that Jazz’, India’s one of the most happening and talked about stores says, “Charles Frederick Worth is known to be the first designer to have had his label sewn into the garments that he created, and very much dictated what his customer wore. Since then fashion has metamorphosed from a mere label sewn onto a garment to a connection with the consumer -- emotional, aesthetic, or both.

"In a country like India where tastes and preferences diverge within city limits, where income levels could be opposites from one lane to the other, where climatic conditions go to extremes from one state to another, it is imperative that consumer is decoded very clearly. And what better platform to do this than IFF, where industry stalwarts meet, discuss and decode the future of fashion in a dynamic environment that demystifies the complex market that is India!”

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India Fashion Forum