Hyderabad (Telangana): The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has launched a national sizing survey to develop India’s first country-specific size chart, which will give Indians, clothes that fit better. The survey is targeting various demographics of India like region, gender, locality and age. The survey will look into collection of data from Indian youth to elderly population i.e. 15-65+ years of age.
The survey is being carried since June 2021 by support of the Design Smith Pvt. Ltd. who are the On Ground Execution partner for this project.
The monumental project approved by the Government of India and supported by industry consortium CMAI entails measuring more than 25000 (Twenty-Five Thousand) people in six different cities located in six regions of India i.e. New Delhi (North), Mumbai (West), Chennai (South), Hyderabad (Centre), Kolkata (East) and Shillong (North-East) using non-contact human safe 3D body scanning technology. At present 19000+ numbers have been achieved till date from 4 cities.
INDIASIZE will ensure the Indian consumer knows the perfect fit and size as per their body types, which differ from those of their counterparts in the UK and the US. The Indian consumer will no longer have to compromise on the fit of a shirt, a pant, or any other clothing when purchasing branded clothing as there will be no size chart anomaly due to US/UK size charts as India will now have its own size chart.
“India Size” – Thereby a mammoth activity to develop India’s first country specific body size chart will be a revolution for the Indian garment industry.
To successfully complete this project at the grass-root level, National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India has initiated a massive national sizing survey to create an anthropometric database of measurements for Indians, which is a true representative of the entire Indian population.
Noopur Anand, PI, INDIAsize project said, “The most fundamental element of apparel is ‘fit’. The Indian apparel sector is facing a challenge of disparity and inconsistency in the provided garment fits which results in loss of sales and returns. ‘INDIAsize’ project is a step in this direction and aims at helping retailers and manufacturers, both local and global, to produce merchandise best suited for Indian body types by providing suitable standards. The INDIAsize project is progressing well and at its envisaged pace and have completed over 3/4 of target sample framework of various demographics of age, region, sex, income and community. Compilation and categorization of the data will be initiated shortly followed by an analysis and reporting phase. We are really grateful to Ministry of Textiles, NIFT leadership and colleagues, our survey and technical partners and all the participants for their participation and support.
Now that the Southern leg is almost complete, after having completed the sizing process in New Delhi, Mumbai & Chennai, it is being carried out with full steam now and the scanners are available at the Hyderabad NIFT campus and Falak Function Palace, Toli Chowki. These scanners will be available till 9th May 2022 at Hyderabad and then will be moved to Kolkata.
The target for Hyderabad city was approx. 2400 people in various age groups out of which we have already achieved the count of 2330.
Expressing his satisfaction on the progress of the National sizing survey being implemented across our vast nation, Mr. Shantmanu, DG NIFT said, “INDIAsize is progressing well with completion of scanning in North, West, South region and currently being carried out in Central Region. Despite the challenges faced due to pandemic, cultural constraints etc. the team is pushing their way forward and have completed more than 75% of the data collection. I commend their efforts and thank the current and prospective participants for their support. I am confident that we will stay on track despite the odds and will be able to successfully complete the project by this year end and provide the Indian apparel Industry with the much awaited standardized body size charts. These indigenous sizing charts will assist many other industries in developing products best suited for Indian body types.”
Here is what the Award winning Indian Textiles and Fashion Designer, Gaurang Shah has to say: The INDIASize will provide tremendous benefit to the consumer by offering standardized sizes and better-fitted clothes. It will also benefit the designers and manufacturers by enabling minimization of wrong inventory and expenses on returned goods and improving sales. All these factors will contribute towards reduction in ultimate prices paid by the consumer. I wish the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) national sizing survey to develop India’s first country-specific size chart.
