A seminar on Export House Operations by an Industry Expert

JD Institute of Fashion Technology conducts several guest lectures and masterclasses for all the departments on a monthly basis. Recently, the students of Post Graduate Diploma in Fashion Design and Business Management had a seminar on Export House Operations by an industry expert, Ms Abhinita Mishra.

A graduate in Fashion and Textile Design, Ms Abhinita has an experience of six years in the industry. Womenswear and Kids wearare her core specialization in the Haute couture and Pret-a-porter category. Being the head of the design department for one of the topmost export houses of Jaipur, J.C.Hometex, Ms Abhinita later switched to organic taste. She started heading another brand highlighting organic products called Organic Shop-Texaura. Currently, she is working in one of the finest design houses called Si Fashion Galerie based in Dubai Design District.

Ms Abhinitaenlightened the students with an analysis of Textile industry in India. The study shows that 55% of the apparel industry is imported by USA and Europe. She briefed the students on what an Export House is; where export holder with a license,supply essential commodities to the consumers.

There are various departments of Export House. Each department has its roles and responsibilities. The departments include Marketing Team, Design Team, Merchandising Team, Production Team, Finishing Team and Packaging Team. She gave an insight on the procedure that each department follows.

Marketing team has direct approach, trade fairs and indirect approach. The design team does the research on trend forecast, theme board, colour palette, initial sketches, silhouettes, sampling, final production and product shipment. The merchandising department does the work from receiving Tech pack to sample making and later to approval or rejection. The pricing is the most important factor in production house. The finishing department takes care of pressing, folding, barcode, inspection and product shipment. She also showed the students some products made out of the left over fabric and trims in their production unit, which provided them a different perspective as a designer.

The seminar was helpful for all the students who are aspiring to work in the Export Houses. They were able to understand the role of a fashion designer in an export house and the steps to be taken inorder to have a balance between design and production cost.