The National Institute of Fashion Technology has set up a centre for trend forecasting. The centre was the first of its kind in the country, said Union Minister of Textiles Smriti Irani on Thursday.
The centre will function from the Students’ Multi-Activity Centre that she commissioned in the city along with a hostel for women students.
According to NIFT Director-General Sarada Muraleedharan, the aim of the centre was to find Indian trends, which rarely matched western fashion trends. Not only textiles and apparel, but furnishing, paints and upholstery trends in India too were very different and western fashion designers were unable to find a suitable market for their products.
Artificial intelligence
The centre will use data generated from the industry, retailers and its own alumni and analyse them using artificial intelligence platform to identify trends across the country.
Unlike the West which has classified its fashion according to the seasons, in India it is possible that trends coincide with festivals, fashion technologists believe.
State Textiles Minister O.S. Manian said the buildings had come up at a cost of ₹36 crore.
He said it was former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who had enabled the setting up of NIFT in 1995. She had also sanctioned land for the new buildings. He urged the students to be responsible to society.
Institute director Anitha Manoharan said the hostel would accommodate 400 students and include facilities such as mess, stationery shop, laundry and a beauty salon for the residents.
