Four days to go for IFF '09

22 Jan 2009

With just four days to go for India Fashion Forum ’09 (IFF ’09), scheduled to be held on January 27-28 in Mumbai, more than 200 industry experts gear up to come together on a common platform to explore possibilities for a better future scenario as compared to the current challenges faced by the fashion retail industry. Themed ‘Fashion 2009: Get the Power!’, the forum will see top thought leaders and global honchos devising strategies to add energy and empower the categories that drive consumption in modern India.

India is definitely amongst few emerging retail destinations across the world and retailers and apparel brands will certainly eye this market. Chairman of the event, Gautam Hari Singhania, CMD, Raymond Limited will be chairman of IFF ’09. “2009 edition of IFF will be the focal point for all vibrant thoughts to converge and brainstorm on how together we can overcome the impact of this global downturn,” says Singhania.

Shailesh Chaturvedi, CEO, Tommy Hilfiger, adds “Our passion has been to transform fashion retailing standards in India. Towards this goal, IFF has always been the definitive platform in India to discuss the best practices here.”

Economic slowdown and security concerns might have affected the sentiments of the Indian consumers. However, president and chief executive of Lifestyle, Reliance Retail Bijou Kurien believes that fashion forward plays a catalytic role in stimulating consumer interest and spend. He will express his thoughts further during his session at IFF '09.

Shumone Chatterjee, MD, Levis India is one of the poster boys of Indian fashion industry who will be featuring at India Fashion Forum ’09 (IFF ’09). “There are two key priorities for retail in India today – recalibration of real estate prices to the value it delivers in terms of attracting consumer traffic and to create another significant occasion (like Diwali) for buying during the first half of the year for the Indian consumer,” says Chatterjee.

Following them, there would be other highly dynamic voices, identified and mentored by leading fashion brands of the world, from across the country sharing their experiences, concerns and hopes, their individual and collective strategies for growth, and what they expect from the forum.

IFF is the country's largest intellectual and information exchange platform for the fashion and retail businesses where leading lights of the fashion and retail industry converge to discuss, display and highlight facets and issues related to the healthy growth of these sectors.

— IndiaRetailing Bureau