Substandard manufacturing hindering design industry’s growth

While the fashion design industry in India holds a lot of promises, but as British designer Sebastian Wrong points out Indian designers lack the ability to push themselves out of the box. Wrong, Co-Founder of British brand Established & Sons, The Wrong Shop, an e-commerce platform and the design house Wrong Hay, was in India for the third 'India Design ID', a design exposition. The problem, he says, lies in the fact that manufacturers in the country lack disciplined approach and designers, therefore are pushed to manufacture their own products against manufacturers in China, who always deliver on time and fulfill their commitments towards the designers.

Reiterating similar sentiment, Caroline Young, another participant at the event, who has been working in India for almost a decade, said that the manufacturers follow the same tried and tested methods instead of exploring new and innovative ways, which hinders the process of creating something that’s innovative and exclusive. Designers on the other hand are skeptical about the quality they would get by outsourcing to local manufacturers and the lack of trust in them, leads them to manufacturing their own products. For instance product designer Lekha Washington, Founder of ‘Ajji-The Odd Product Company and Anjana Somany, who heads Design and Development at Schablona India believes in manufacturing their own products at their units.

Archana Pillai, Group Publisher and CEO of Ogaan, organisers of Design ID feels that the artisans in India lack training and exposure. Also bulk manufacture and supply of hand embroidery and textile work as well as copying of designs are some of the other issues faced by the design community.