Feature

30+ 50+ 65+ No, I am not doing any arithmetic. Just looking at the measurables at various stages of life – money, status, power, love, and not necessarily in that order. So, there’s this 65+ coach and mentor, currently writing a management self-help book, with more than four decades of experience in leading transformational changes in global companies and their supply network. While he does respond with a resounding yes to the question posed in the headline to this article, there are various...

It has been almost twenty years since the five member Shukla Commission submitted its report on the Northeast to the Prime Minister. The high-level commission headed by Planning Commission member SP Shukla, in its 150-page report titled Transforming the Northeast: Tackling Backlogs in Basic Minimum Services and Infrastructural Needs, had surprisingly paid little heed to the textiles sector of the region. The Shukla Commission, tasked to examine the potential of the Northeast, had devoted only...

Does this header sound far-fetched? Is the first question in the introduction above a pipe dream? Questions, questions, questions. Answers are there, but caught in the dreams that design a designer's world. Much is being said about the retail revolution – ongoing, at the threshold, to gain momentum… the industry is yet to decide as voices soft and sure emerge. What is missed out in the big story are the little stories that creep along at a snail's pace on a firm path. IMAGES BoF has been...

It will be a while yet before fashion designers in India can be the toast of the international market. India continues to be the flavour of the season, inspiring greats like Valentino to Oscar de la Renta, but what the Eurpoean and American markets want is a touch of India on clothing that is executed fine. "The Indian design that will really appeal to us will be that which gives an extra emotion. The designer will fly with his own wings. India is magical, the West is attracted to it," said...

Think big. Don't forget the masses when you're looking at the classes. Critical need of the country: How to build image of India as a country that produces high quality textile products. Break rules. Challenge established retail thinking and practice. Space enough for 50-100 new retail formats to come up. Make best use of opportunities available in market today before global players come in and take it away from us. Create/get merchandise to fill the mushrooming space in the country. Each one...

Lurking in the corners of mirth and merriment that mark the dawn of another year is always room for introspection and some retrospection. Umpteen times it has been said that India is in the midst of a retail revolution. And as the retail mass rolls along there are many who have added their own, lending momentum and even speed to the movement. There have been new impulses and pushes, imparting it a robust look. So long the movement has been more or less a consequence of an inertia that was...

It's all about filling spaces. There is this little war being plotted in the confines of some of the country's best board rooms. For some of the top players who are transforming the Indian retailscape, it could be the importance of winning numerous battles before the war is finally won. At stake is how big and wide is the retail space that one can claim in this subcontinent. At stake is not just the footprint alone. For grabs also is the wallet space of the increasingly shopaholic consumer. The...

It's a mad rush at most designer studios as the much vaunted couturiers of India Inc are still recovering from the hectic swirl that was the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW). Business has been great this year, as good as last year and even better than last year for some. Big orders have been contracted, sampling is on for some major buyers. Many deals have been struck, while some are in the process of being sealed. Tarun Tahiliani has Harrods, Shane and Falguni Peacock are doing samples for them...

A sea of orange in a five-star hotel. A 100-odd boisterous group of men and women, ranging from 25-50 years. A few blobs of orange shuttling up and down the lobby. It is evident they are all part of one group. This is a company that had just taken its employees out for a refresher course and the celebrations mark its end. It was the fluorescent orange that united this rambunctious lot. A keener eye would have perhaps detected a few sombre heads as they smiled more and laughed a tad lesser than...

Round neck, polo neck, V or U neck, the summery t-shirt is everyone’s favourite. Wear it in layers or as a singlet – the simple undergarment that it was when Yankie troops discovered European soldiers sporting it as a comfortable wear during a World War torn warm summer. The Americans discarded their woolly uniform and adopted the T, so much so that the 1920s saw the word ‘t-shirt’ incorporated in the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Then there is “The British Story” propounded by Harold Lipson, a...