Tech Converts Fashion Preference Into Design, Says Reid & Taylor's Ajay Agarwal

From Kendrick Lamar's boot cut jeans that got the magazines talking to trendy tops that go viral on social media, the world of fashion revolves in a pace of its own and the fabric of the fashion industry is changing faster than ever.

Knitted together by the threads of changing choices, clothiers got to work faster than ever. With loads changing, the textile industry has surely grown stronger but has more untapped potential.

Ajay Agrawal, chief executive officer of Reid & Taylor, believes that with the right support, India could be the clothiers of the world.

In the last three months, apparel exports have seen a 41% uptick against the less than 10% exports. India is currently a small part in global trade, Agrawal said at the NDTV Profit Conclave in Mumbai on Tuesday.

India can only further expand its textile industry with more value addition-based growth. The production can see up to twice the growth if value addition like fabric into apparel is incorporated.

"Globally, the biggest opportunity and market is apparel export. India can become clothiers of the world. With PM Modi's 5 F's of textile — farm, fibre, factory, fashion and foreign, we can grow," Agrawal said.

According to the CEO, India's textile industry is capable of reaching $350 billion exports by the end of the decade. With the right support, he said India would be able to achieve this earlier than 2030 also.

The expansion of the textile industry will not only boost employment on the national front, but there will be opportunities that will open in the backward pockets as well, Agrawal said.

"Currently, the textile industry is employing 10% of the working population. More trained workforce is a need and the government needs to take up this objective as it will generate employment also in villages and small towns," he said.

He cites the doubled capacity of Reid & Taylor as it incorporated more technology and incentive-based working systems.

Now, for the way ahead, the textile industry needs a holistic boost. With better trained employees and more manufacturing units, the industry is set to a good amount of uptick in production.

"We will have textile parks and have allocated a budget for setup as well. We need new manufacturing capacity as we are already the largest cotton producing country," he said.

The fibre and yarn needs to be converted to apparel and that will bring three times more value addition. The apparel manufacturing unit will also need to be supported by upgraded technology, he said.

With platforms equipped to track browsing history and preferences, technology gives clothiers more clarity on customer choices than ever before.

"AI in the textile industry has been the most helpful in customer relationship management. It helps track behavioural purchases and augmented reality helps better engagement," he said.

Technology now gives manufactures a clearer picture based on the consumers' browsing history. According to Agrawal, a recent learning that technology has provided is the rising brand appreciation among Tier 1 and 2 cities.

"More areas accessed because of AI-driven information. We convert preference into design. A lot more business is possible with e-commerce," he said.

Especially in the premium category preferences, change in trends shifts overnight and the technology helps companies deliver according to the current trends because of technology.