Menswear specialist JenjumGadi plans to launch his first capsule collection of patchwork women’s sarees this month, as well as a collection of kaftans, as the designer moves towards more targeted collections.

As per Fashion Network, Gadi also recently designed the uniforms for the Delhi Police’s first-ever all-women pipe band. The uniforms features Gadi’s own take on classic uniforms.

Based in Delhi, JenjumGadi hails from Arunachal Pradesh and is inspired by his Northeastern heritage. This year, the designer plans to continue to work with and promote Northeastern handloom textiles. His eponymous brand retails from a range of multi-brand e-commerce stores including Tata Cliq Luxury and Carma Online.

Gadi was recently honoured by the Delhi Police for the elegant dressage — a red officer’s style coat, embellished with golden accessories.

India’s leading institute for Design, Fashion, Creative Business and Contemporary Media, Pearl Academy has been awarded the National Education Excellence Award 2021 in the ‘Best Design Institute’ category for the sixth consecutive year.

The award was presented at the ASSOCHAM 14th National Education Summit. It was received by Seema Mahajan, Academic President, Pearl Academy and Emanuel Maia, Dean, School of Creative Practice from Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.

Pearl Academy also bagged this year’s ‘Excellence in Creative & Performing Arts’ award from FICCI. The award was received by Prof Nandita Abraham, President, Pearl Academy during the 16th FICCI Higher Education Summit 2021.

Pearl Academy has been providing the best of design and creative education through tech-driven modern pedagogy, relevant industry exposure and globally enhanced curriculum and faculty with rich academic and industry experience.

The academy has developed and sent over 2,300 customized kits to students to set up mini-studios in their homes. These kits vary as per the program and curriculum requirements to include Wacom tablets, sewing machines, fashion mannequins/ mini-dress forms, drafting boards, hand-knitting devices, block-printing kits, Arduino kits, software stacks, sketching kits and softwares.

Besides this, students have access to full Adobe Creative Suite, Business of Fashion, Coursera, WGSN and digital library to supplement the classroom lectures.

The institute has also created knowledge-development modules that partnered with an international platform for designers- Arts Thread- to help students showcase their work to the global fraternity.

It set up more than 150 virtual jury boards that shared an industry perspective on their projects and mentored them on a regular basis.

The institute has been awarded a score of 150/150 for e-learning and is QS I.Gauge E-Lead certified.

Besides this, its faculty members have been trained and certified in virtual teaching from the University of California.

Furniture giant Ikea is accelerating its India expansion after a nationwide pandemic lockdown last year delayed the construction and opening of new stores in one of its fastest-growing markets.

The company opened its second India store on the outskirts of Mumbai in December and another in the southern city of Bengaluru is now on course to be completed in 12 months. Ikea, which opened it’s first store in Hyderabad in 2018, also has just two years left to raise the ratio of goods and materials sourced from India -- currently at 22 per cent -- to at least 30 per cent to meet local regulations. Betzel said that was “absolutely" achievable.

The Swedish furniture giant, known for its minimalistic aesthetics, is now making up for lost time as the Indian economy begins to rebound from the pandemic-induced recession and new COVID-19 infections slow down in the world’s second-worst hit nation.

The Central Leather Research Institute (CLRI) in Chennai plans to launch a pan-India feet scanning survey data to define Indian footwear size standards. Those will be included by shoe manufacturers in their size charts. By next year, India could have its own footwear sizing system, which is expected to reduce confusion while buying shoes of European Union, UK or US sizes.

The CLRI-led anthropometric survey will include 3D foot scans and measurement of feet. The project, scheduled to begin later this year and continue for 14 months, is supported by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the ministry of commerce, according to Indian media reports.

The survey will collect data that will be used to design a footwear sizing scheme based on Indian requirements, trace ethnic differences if any, determine characteristic age and size groups with special requirements, establish a size range for the Indian population, and produce a numerical database with specific length and width groupings.

The survey, estimated to cost ₹11 crore, will cover 94 districts around Agra, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Chennai, Jodhpur, Jorhat, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna and Shillong.

The sizing scheme is expected to be ready by early 2022.

Accelerating its India expansion, furniture giant Ikea plans to open a store in Bengaluru in the next 12 months. The company hopes to roll out shops in 30 cities within seven years. It opened its second India store on the outskirts of Mumbai in December.

Ikea’s first store was opened in Hyderabad in 2018. The store has just two years left to raise the ratio of goods and materials sourced from India -- currently at 22 per cent -- to at least 30 per cent to meet local regulation. The Swedish furniture giant is now making up for lost time as the Indian economy rebounds from the pandemic-induced recession and new COVID-19 infections slowdown in the country.

Ikea recently acquired space in Noida, for a $753 million multipurpose mall that should be ready in about three and a half years. Development on a second store close to India's national capital will begin this year and two smaller centers in Mumbai will open in 2021, in sync with its global expansion spree as it adds stores at a record pace despite worldwide virus restrictions.

Apparel brand Rias Jaipur has launched a new collection of 100 per cent locally produced cotton sweatshirts and joggers named ‘Farak’ with prints designed to raise awareness on issues including farmers’ and garment workers’ struggles.

Each ‘Farak’ garment features a scannable QR code which is incorporated into its design. This is designed to spread awareness among wearers about the issues raised by the prints on their clothing.

The collection is fabricated from cotton which is sourced, hand-knitted, and woven by farmers and artisans from the Vidarbha and Wardha regions of Maharashtra as well as Murshidabad in West Bengal.

The brand has also launched a new line named ‘Re! Re: Start / Wind/ Cycle’ which has repurposed garment waste accumulated over the years and woven it into a collection summer jackets made with the technique of extra weft in handloom weaving. This first batch was woven by handloom brand Iro.

Over 50,000 offline retailers and neighborhood kirana stores across 450 India have launched e-commerce major Amazon’s ‘Local Shops’ program. Launched in April, the program aims to enable local shopkeepers and kirana store owners to sell online. It is been participated by over 20,000 retailers in 400 cities. Retailers and neighborhood stores from metros to Tier II and III cities like Sangli, Osmanabad, Jamnagar, Gorakhpur, Jabalpur, Ratlam, Bikaner, Tumkur, Jalpaiguri, Kanchipuram and Dehradun have joined the Amazon program.

They are offering customers in their cities a wide range of products including fresh flowers, home and kitchen products, furniture, electronics, books and toys amongst others. The program underlines how digital enablement and digital inclusion can help them scale and contribute to a digital economy. It helps neighborhood stores supplement the existing footfalls at their stores with a digital presence, and expands their reach beyond the normal catchment.

Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan topped the list of the highest number of 'Local Shops' among states, while Delhi, Surat, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Mumbai had the highest number of Local Shops in terms of cities.

The most popular product categories on Local Shops were grocery, kitchen products, appliances, beauty products, consumer electronics, home items, furniture, business and industrial supplies, apparel, and wireless accessories.

A dedicated laboratory was opened by the South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) recently at the South India Spinners’ Association (SISPA) building.

As per The Hindu, the laboratory will have fiber testing equipment that will benefit the SISPA members. SITRA will offer a special package of charges for the tests offered to SISPA members. There are plans to get ISO 17025:2017 accreditation for the laboratory. Further, members of SISPA, who are mostly in the MSME sector, can use SITRA’s expertise to find solution to technical issues. It is also planned to work together to ensure that SITRA’s expertise in the field of training personnel at all levels are used for the benefit of SISPA member mills.

SITRA offers consultations to textile units on a variety of subjects, including modernization, cost reduction, techno-economic viability, diagnostic studies, energy conservation, work assignments and productivity improvement. A Centre of Excellence for Medical Textiles (CoE-Meditech) is also established at SITRA.

Myntra, India’s leading fashion and lifestyle destination, has launched the Myntra for Her, a shopping event for women from March 06--09. The event will host "Ladies Night" every evening from 6-9 March, from 7 pm till midnight, to provide 50-80 percent off on top brands and articles types, as well as other exciting deals on a number of women's go-to categories.

Among various unique propositions specially curated for women, shoppers can Buy 1 and Get 3, and Buy 1 and get an extra item at INR 49 on select catalogues.

Men too can play their part, with the season being apt for gifting. With women's ethnic wear, western wear, personal care products, sports apparel, lingerie and loungewear, footwear and jewellery, all available at never-before-seen prices, male buyers can shower the women in their lives with exciting gifts without denting their wallets.

The Opening Hour Deals, between midnight to 2 am on March 6 give shoppers the chance to get their hands on exciting offers, with 30-70 percent off across categories such as ethnic wear, sarees, women’s western wear, lingerie and inner wear, footwear, and accessories. The Beauty and Personal Care category will have some of the most irresistible deals from brands.

Additionally, all customers, who shop for INR 4,000 or more, will get vouchers worth INR 4,000.

The ‘Highest Shopper’ at every hour will also be eligible to receive INR 5,000 off on their next purchase.