waves

INTERVIEW
waves | 17
FASHION
FOR YOUTH
The youth has shown
keen interest in
studying subjects
that are contemporary
and futuristic,
as in the case of
management in the
fashion sector, which
calls for creativity
to be moulded with
commercial acumen. In
this exclusive interview
with the DG and CEO
of Institute of Apparel
Management (IAM)
& Apparel Training &
Design Centre (ATDC),
Dr. Darlie Koshy,
highlights the features
of new MBA Program
in fashion business
being launched from
14th July 2014 at IAM.
Q. What are the parameters that mooted
the introduction of this academic discipline
(MBA, Fashion Management)?
A. India is a country of more than
550 million youth and therefore India
can influence the ‘Fashions for
Youth’ around the world. However,
so far, most of the institutes have not
been focusing on ‘Fashion as a Business’;
their expertise remains mostly
on the Design area. This needs to be
now changed, as ‘Design’ is connected
to Brands, and Brands need to have
well-defined target groups, positioning
and promotion. Focus on ‘Fashion as a
Business’ will also open up career opportunities
to many students.
Q. How many students are you intending
to enroll in the first batch?
A. Since the MBA in fashion Business
is a dual campus programme to be offered
by IAM at the Mewar University
with an option to pursue one semester
overseas, the initial batch size would
be around 25 to begin with.
Q. With this element of managerial
skills linked to Fashion technology,
will there be a yardstick similar to ISO
standardization, in the grading of various
products and services?
A. Benchmarking is better than standardization,
as ‘global benchmarks’
would need to be set for the Programme.
Accordingly, IAM is in dialogue
with institutes like BIAD and
LCF in London and IFM in Paris, for
ensuring that there will be intellectual
benchmarks for the Programme.
Q. Is this idea of Fashion Management
new in India and how do you foresee
the overall impact among the fashion
Designers?
A. Certainly this idea is quiet new in
India. The Fashion world is now beginning
to embrace the business world on
multiple fronts-efficiently, economically
and ecologically. For this, brands,
designers and fashion businesses as a
whole are finally willing to admit that
they need new age MBAs.
Every Designer faces or reaches
a stage in career cycle where he/she
needs to rediscover his/her signature
brand(s). MBA in Fashion Business
would certainly help both general designers
and entrepreneurs. Fashion is
closer to a ‘perishable product’ as time
is the critical factor in determining its
positioning and price. Dealing therefore
with rapid changes and dimensions
of time make the Fashion Business
different and the new program
trains students to pick-up the outgoing
and incoming trends.