The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Aim to create brand India design, Kalam tells students

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Aim to create brand India design, Kalam tells students

Staff Reporter

Foundation laid for knitting lab at NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion College in Tirupur

Photo: M. Balaji

Intricate work: Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam taking a look at the fabrics developed by the students of NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion College in Tirupur on Wednesday. —

TIRUPUR: The former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on Wednesday asked the fashion design students to make India a leader in fashion technology and appealed to them to aim to create brand India design using “our cultural heritage.”

Delivering 11th graduation day address at the NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion College here, Dr. Kalam suggested that “if we integrate the innate Indian art with technology, modern fashion design can emerge.

Researchers in fashion design should be able to study the psyche of new generation men and women and create the colour, texture and shape to suit the taste based on the wealth of our native artistic talent hidden in every part of the country.”

He also said that the aim of such brand India design should be to penetrate the minds of men and women spread all over the world, through unique products.

This will enable India to tread its own path instead of proceeding in the beaten path.

Dr. Kalam hoped that Tirupur could definitely play an important role to make India a fashion destination of the world.

Commenting on the recent setback to the textile industry in the wake of currency appreciation, Dr. Kalam said that there was a possibility that the demands from certain countries may reduce. Tirupur had to constantly evolve and add new markets through new products in the world.

“Simultaneously, we have to see how Tirupur can service the Indian market by designing products for meeting the tastes of Indian youth,” he remarked.

Incubation centres

Dr. Kalam suggested that the exporters of Tirupur establish industrial complexes in other countries depending upon the availability of raw materials and competitive human power to bring down the cost.

Two or three incubation centres can be created in the NIFT-TEA College by the Tirupur Exporters Association and a financial institution exclusively to carry out design and development of new textile products, including technical textiles, the former President added.

He asked the college authorities to undertake research in knitwear products so that Tirupur can maintain its competitive edge in the years to come.

Stating that the textile industry was very important for the Indian economy, Dr. Kalam said that India could definitely produce 25 per cent of the total world production of quality cotton compared to the existing 12 per cent leading to additional revenue of over Rs. 25,000 crore a year for the nation.

He suggested that the college could have a linkage with agricultural research and farming community to specify the special qualities needed in the cotton production for making the Indian cotton competitive in the international market.

He asked the exporters of Tirupur to aim to export knitted garments worth $ 5 billion from the present $ 2.5 billion in three years and that would further enhance the employment availability and prosperity of the rural areas around Tirupur.

On behalf of the Knit Cloth Manufacturers Association, its president Ahill S. Rathinasamy presented a cheque for Rs. 20 lakh to create a knitting lab at the college for which Dr. Kalam laid the foundation stone.

Tirupur MLA C. Govindasamy, Mayor K. Selvaraj, TEA president A. Sakthivel and NIFT-TEA Knitwear Fashion College Chairman Raja M. Shanmugam spoke.

Dr. Kalam gave away degree certificates to 182 students, inculding 23 post-graduates.

Earlier at the TEKIC campus in Mudalipalayam, students and workers accorded a rousing reception to Dr. Kalam.

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