Indians have been facing a lot of problems with clothes fittings, as there is no definite Indian standard size. Additionally, the Indian e-commerce sector is booming ahead of the pandemic but the enquiries related to return of the apparel is increasing due to fitting issues.
To counter this problem at the grassroot level, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi, under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India has come up with an initiative -a massive national sizing survey to create an anthrompetic database measurements of Indians, which will truly depict indian population.
The historical project approved by the Government of India and supported by industry consortium CMAI will take into consideration contributions from more than 25,000 people in the age group of 15-65 years. The survey will be conducted in six different cities located in different regions of India i.e New Delhi (North), Mumbai (West), Chennai (South), Hyderabad (Centre), Kolkata (East) and Shillong (North-East) using non-contact human safe 3D body scanning technology.
Shantmanu, IAS, DG NIFT, commented on this matter, “NIFT is proud to be associated with MoT’s initiative of ‘INDIAsize’. This is a scientific exercise where anthropometric data is collected from a sample population, using human safe 3D whole body scanner technology, in order to create a standardised size chart. This will follow all international protocols of national sizing survey and will be a true representative of the Indian population, which can then be adopted by the apparel industry”.
The first-of-its-kind survey in India will capture more than 100 anthropometric data points from each participant.
Shri Upendra Prasad Singh, IAS Secretary Textiles made a statement “The INDIAsize survey will result in the creation of a size identification number for a customer through mapping, categorization and defining their body size. This will help manufacturers to produce goods suited for the body size of the target consumer and help consumers to identify sizes that will be best suited for them resulting in a match and hence improved sales. Apart from apparel, the findings of the study will also have applications across various other industries where the insights from this data can produce ergonomically designed products which are well suited for the Indian population”.
The survey by NIFT Delhi has conducted more than 5,000 samples as the first phase of the collection of the data. The study of the survey includes people from different demographic groups, age group, origin size to create a standard size chart.
Till now only 18 countries have their standard size, after the completion of data which is supposed to be completed by the end of 2022, according to the official statement. India will have its own standard size which will diminish the problems of Indian consumers and the home grown apparel market.
