March, 1-15, 2017

With the onset of International Women’s Day, the world salutes their women achievers, as there are many such women who are either heading their company’s operations – looking after sampling and coordinating between the buyer and the exporter, or are successfully running independent businesses, travelling globally… Apparel Online, through this issue, wishes to acknowledge the importance of women in our industry, and especially when there is a woman Textiles Minister at the helm. In this issue, 18 women associated with the apparel industry give an insight on their journey, their motivations, their struggles and milestones that make them what they are today… LEADERS! Tamil Nadu, having a strong base of textile and garment industry, often faces criticism from international and Indian NGOs and trade unions on worker’s violation of rights. It is also a common perception that NGOs have their own interest and hidden agenda… Team AOmet three such bodies of Tamil Nadu – SAVE, TTCU and SSSSS – and tried to understand their perspectives, funding patterns, and most importantly, why there is so much ‘negativity’ with regard to textile and apparel industry.… The issue also finds the reviews of just concluded three fairs – Indian Handicraft and Gift Fair (IHGF) in Greater Noida (Delhi-NCR) by EPCH; the 14th edition of Knit-Tech Tirupur; and finally the GMMSA Expo 2017 in Ludhiana. Team AOwas at all these fairs for an in-depth coverage… Besides the above, our regular columns of Mind Tree, Fashion Trends, H2F, Industry Wire, Resource Centre, Export Statistics, etc. make the issue worth reading.