From factory to runway: Industry experts discuss the challenges & the way forward

In the session titled -From factory to runway. Industry on trend - Akashdeep Singh, President, Indian Business Council, Mubashar Naseer Butt, Chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Sladjana Milojevic, Director, Fashion Apparel Cluster of Serbia , Aleksandra Kaloshina, Founder, Solstudio Textile Group (Russia), Aleksey Romanenko, Managing Partner, Consulting company NEO (Russia) in conversation with Tatiana Naumova spoke about the changes that have occurred in recent years that have affected the markets and what measures are needed to further support and develop local brands.

'There has been a shortage of trained workers in the textiles sector'
Discussing the issue of shortage of trained workers, Aleksandra Kaloshina, Founder, Solstudio Textile Group (Russia), shared that they felt a lack of trained workers in this field. "For example, if we had a plan to build a factory and had investment, could we go to a university or school of some kind to ensure that we could get some personnel trained for? And the answer was no till a few years. We had to deal with it all ourselves and when we founded our design studio, we learnt that we have a lot of designers but they were not artistes. They were industrial designers, they were not the ones that would put prints on the fabrics that will go in the stores and we realised that problem seven years ago and we created our own personnel for training not for our personal gain but for the entire nation. Our experts taught in all of the universities we could think of, we launched a textile design contest and we worked on elevating the prestige of this profession, we did not only focus on training but also on training the experts."

In his presentation, Aleksey Romanenko, Managing Partner, Consulting company NEO (Russia) discussed the trends they have observed in the country. Aleksey spoke about the issues that deal with the shortage of personnel. He shared, "Competition is getting stronger between the industries. We have so much labour deficit not just in textiles but in agriculture, retail and other sectors. Everyone needs manpower and that's a huge battle for the few hands that can either go to the textile factory or become a delivery boy or work at a retail store and it is not just about a salary. We did a survey on the salaries of those who do some knitwear so the salary used to be lower. Now it is quite decent so we need to fight for the prestige of the profession. We need the synergy between the government efforts and the private sector, we can't pull this off alone."



'We devised an interactive way of learning'
Sladjana Milojevic, Director, Fashion Apparel Cluster of Serbia, shared, "What we realised was that our education system had been too traditional. We realised we needed to have long term competitiveness, we needed to invest in it. Human capital is the main one and the future of our industry. We designed a model of lifelong learning and it may not apply to everyone but we all feel the pinch of the crisis. We need to preserve our active jobs, we need to provide the best conditions for them. We need to raise their salaries but at the same time we also need to improve their living standards. So we have come up with educational programmes, sort of like vocational training , passed a law on dual education and that would imply that students can also start their career in companies so it is it's kind of internship or apprenticeship and it is a more interactive way of learning. They can get engaged, they can tune in and settle down much faster than previously when they used to get just theory and no practicals so that’s one of the models we have implied and that has been successful."


'We need to educate our people and ourselves as well'
Discussing the kind of skills that are important and the problem of labour shortage , Mubashar Naseer Butt, Chairman, Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said, "We have got 600 factories all over Pakistan and we are also running three institutes. I think the biggest problem that the industry is facing is shortage of labour because there is more and more complex production. It is getting more technical. We do not only have to care about our labour but also our environment and we are responsible for that. We need to educate our people and ourselves as well. To change the labour is a hard job, it is not easy because what is happening in Pakistan is that the people who are working, they are not educated and to educate them and make them flexible, it is hard work...We are upgrading. And the industry has realised that without this, we won’t be able to sustain."

'We need to learn from each other'
Talking about India's goals for the industry, Akashdeep Singh, President, Indian Business Council said, "For the past 10-15 years, India has realised that just IT cannot pull it off, we now are going to our roots. India is intensely investing in textiles and there are so many clusters in India that enjoy subsidies from the government. We have a population of 1.4 billion so the ultimate goal for the government is to increase competitiveness and to improve the living standards. We need to become the world's biggest hub in terms of production and we have the skills which are being honed and polished and India is moving towards it."

"The problems that we are facing are quite universal. We need to exchange business intelligence, we are not okay if we are aloof. We are knitted, we need to learn from each other," he suggested.