Karnataka - Bangalore   

Designing to conquer

Karunesh Vohra, who runs a BPO unit, tells K. Satyamurty why he feels India will become a major outsourcing destination for designs.

India has the potential to become the preferred outsourcing destination of designs for the international apparels industry, says Karunesh Vohra. His own Munch Design Workshop Pvt. Ltd is perhaps the country's first such venture. It provides design services to a number of Indian and international clothing brands.

"We have the advantages of a strong background in textiles and design education in reputed institutions, such as the National Institute of Design and the National Institute of Fashion Technology, and our costs can be 30 per cent lower,'' Mr. Vohra says.

Having spent several years with major garment manufacturers such as Madura, Weekender, and Proline, he knows what the industry wants. In-house designing teams can be expensive, and a design BPO (business process outsourcing) could save a lot of man-hours, headaches, and expense. There were sceptics when he started the business; many felt design was integral to a business and could not be outsourced. Mr. Vohra aimed high enough to get an order from a well-known British brand of men's formal clothing, a line just introduced into India. His firm also got as a client a company in France, perhaps the first Indian design BPO unit to do so. Then came the job to design uniforms for a hotel chain resorts in Goa. Now, he is busy with several formal and casual wear brands. "India has no dearth of design talent, and many designers are good at multi-tasking and not too narrowly specialised, perhaps because we are a bit chaotic as a people!" he says. This means the same team can provide everything from selection of fabrics to designing clothing and even visual merchandising at the retail end. Mr. Vohra respects the fact that fashions from Europe influence Indian garment manufacturers. "But they can be adapted and styled for Indians... in regard to fabrics, cuts and designs, and yes, colours,'' he says.

The typical Indian — man or woman — often chooses styles influenced by movie stars, sportspersons, and the requirement of local festivals and occasions such as weddings.

The Western concept of men's clothing going by collar and waist sizes can lead to peculiar situations in our country, he has found.

Most men in Kerala are built compact, leaning to the stocky kind of figure. "Not the smaller sizes of shirts but sizes 42 or 44 are most popular there. Malayali men don't mind if the shirt tails are rather long, they wear them with dhotis or lungis," he points out. Clothing designed specially for Onam — cream shades and zari work predominating — has become popular on the West Coast.

If white and pastel shades the Southerner's choice, bright colours sell best in Punjab and the North, he has found. Most garment brands need a special line to be launched for festivals such as Deepavali, and these need to be in bright, festive colours, he says.

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