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FASHION

Design for RMG shake-up

Refayht Ullah Mirdha
Bangladesh should now focus on fashion and design to grab a greater share of the pic, the global apparel market.
The country has been doing exceptionally well in terms of business in the lower segment of the ready-made garment (RMG) items, or more commonly referred to as the business of basic items.
In such areas of business -- to be profitable -- manufacturers and exporters have to export in bulk. Options of price swells are not available as these are basic items and have no sophisticated designs to warrant the profit.
It is high time Bangladesh made the leap from producing only basic items to producing high value-added items, which are more profitable.
These are the views of Wendy Malem, a fashion designer and now the dean of the London College of Fashion (LCF), a UK-based century-old educational institute under the University of the Arts London.
Recently Malem, a mastermind in fashion, signed an agreement with the BGMEA Institute of Fashion and Technology' (BIFT) in Dhaka, to provide assistance for producing more human resources in tire line of fashion designing in Bangladesh.
Malem, who has worked at the world's major business hubs like London, Hong Kong and New York as a fashion designer for the International Fashion Company of UK for more than 17 years, has been working as the dean of LCF over the last 18 months.
At present LCF breeds more than 300 graduates in fashion and designing every year in London, Malem says in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star on October 8.
In order to blossom, fashion designers need international exposure rather than being confined to books and theories, because fashion is roaming round the globe round the clock, she said.
"This is why fashion designers should always travel the world to see
the ways and lives of people, to get a feel for the essence of the latest trends and ethnic designs," Malem argues.
On a quick note, Malem also advises fashion designers to be more articulate, well-organised and to have in-depth knowledge of sociopolitical and economic situations of the world, as fashion designing is ultimately a product to be sold to a segment of the
population of society.
She advises Bangladeshi manufacturers and exporters to work with some international partners to develop unique designs and to create design awareness among people. Such initiatives, she believes, will help develop the designing process in the country.
Developing a unique design needs
education and opportunities, she added.
On the apparel business opportunities between Bangladesh and Britain, Malem says designs are the driving force for business in the UK while Bangladeshi businessmen target product volumes.
She says clothing designs should have an international outlook and be delicately intertwined with business activities. The capabilities of designers in England are high and they are well-paid for displaying their unique creativity in the business of design development, she adds.
She says it takes dedication to develop and conceive ideas for fashion and design with global perspectives in mind, which the Bangladeshi people do possess.
She urges businessmen to develop ideas for fashion designing with a commercial point of view.
Bangladesh has high potential as the country expons its major RMG products to most European countries and USA, where consumers always prefer newer designs.
She appreciates the recent development that has taken place in the local apparel brands. These brands can quickly rise to the top and gain global recognition as the brand owners are aggressively marketing them.
Bangladesh should participate in the London, Paris, Milan and New York Fashion Week, the four key international fashion shows on earth, on a regular basis. Participation will eventually give them the much-needed exposure and the local brands will be able to develop at par with international looks, Malem says.
“It will help open up an international window for Bangladeshi products and designs as world famous fashion designers and apparel businessmen and buying houses partici pate in such shows," she says.
Designs always influence the choices that human beings make, she advocates.
"So it is the responsibility of the industry owners and fashion industries to train the unskilled, semi-
skilled and skilled workers in this industry," Malem says, "Bangladeshi workers, especially women, encompass the inherent capabilities of stitching very well.”
Such traits are evident as even unskilled and illiterate rural women workers can stitch garments very smoothly and efficiently.
Malem expresses her views about the latest apparel business at the interview; at present Bangladesh has been receiving a large number , of orders from the EU and US buyers due mainly to appreciation of the Chinese currency against the US dollar.
Bangladeshi RMG manufacturers now need to build a good rapport with foreign buyers to grab a higher international market share.
The fashion and design mastermind terms the shift in export orders from China to Bangladesh as redistribution of global wealth.
Meanwhile, Education and Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman has recently announced an elevation of BIFT to a university in future, to develop human resources in fashion and designing as the country faces a dearth of such professionals.
Under the deal, LCF will help BIFT to develop human resources to global standards in fashion and designs.
Presently BIFT is offering four-year bachelor degree courses on knitwear manufacturing technology, apparel manufacturing and technology, fashion design and technology and sweater manufacturing and technology
The institute is also offering MBA courses on apparel merchandising in addition to one-year diploma and six-month professional certificate courses on various related subjects.
At least 75 percent of readymade garments are tailored in line with the foreign buyers' designs; popularly known as "cut-and-paste ones", since the garment industry is yet to witness a flourishing designing sector, said RMG exporters.
reefat@thedailystar.net