Textiles India 2017 will take place between June 30 and July 2, 2017 in Gandhinagar and will bring weavers, craftsmen as well as designers under one roof.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event. This is the first-ever international textile event being hosted by India, where the rich Indian heritage and traditions in textiles will be showcased along with all industry associations and segments in the entire value change of the textiles industry. The event will see participation from all 17 ministries of the Government of India.
Highlighting the key elements, Textiles Minister Smriti Irani said, “The valedictory session will be chaired by Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Anant Kumar, Amitabh Kant, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and other dignitaries from across value chains of the textile industry. The first-ever international textile event will include not only conferences, B2Bs but also country sessions and specific state sessions. The partner states include Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharastra.”
The three-day event also aims to connect and collaborate with global manufacturers, investors and buyers and explore the opportunities and strengths of textiles and apparel manufacturing in India for global investors. The conference will be based on themes such as India as a global sourcing hub and an investment destination; exploring growth potential of technical textiles; carving a niche market globally for handcrafted goods; and potential for growth of man-made fibre in India.
Highlighting about the other line ups, the textiles minister said, “It's not only about apparel, it's also about technical textiles which is medical textiles that includes the medical gowns and masks that are worn, jute and made-ups, that is one of the largest market servicing the US. So the whole value chain will be presented.”
Several designers showcased a special preview to Textiles India 2017 at the curtain raiser held in New Delhi on the World Heritage Day. Fashion designers such as Sumanth Chauhan, Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Tarun Tahiliani, Sanjay Garg, Madhu Jain along with Anita Dogre, Masaba Gupta and Ritu Kumar gave a glimpse of their collections. Some of the weavers also shared the stage with the acclaimed designers. One of them was Chaman, a bhunkar from Kutch, Gujarat.
Fashion designer Suket Dhir, who previewed ikats along with digi printed fabrics at the fashion show, said, “It's great that Government of India has given a platform to the industry as a whole. It's not like handloom is being pitted against the organised textile industry. They go hand-in-hand together, which is a great thing. Designers are often looked as innovators and weavers as the craftsmen of India, who are actually carrying forward India's heritage. It gives us an opportunity to innovate on the heritage weaves, crafts and textiles. So weavers' co-creation with the designers will help in deciding the future.”
The strength of Indian textiles sector in cotton, silk, wool, woven and hand-printed, embroidered as well as modern and futursitic designs was presented by both designers as well as craftsmen. Calling it a landmark day in Indian textiles industry, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee said, “Never before have we seen so many craftsmen and Indian designers coming together and sharing platform side by side in a very democratic manner. I think, for the longest time, the Indian craftsmen have been the backbone of Indian designers and it is time we recognised them in front of the whole world.”
Textiles India 2017 will showcase the entire range of textiles products from 'fibre to fashion' where over 1,000 stalls and more than 2,500 discerning international buyers, agents, designers and retail chains from across the world are expected to deliver footfall.