A melting pot of styles and influences from countries across the globe; a dazzling boutique for international visitors to enjoy the latest trends in fashion from hair-bands, shoes andlates bags to apparel and jewellery; immense business opportunities for manufacturers, sellers and designers; an excellent platform for students to get hands-on experience in the fashion industry. Visualise all this under one roof and what may come to your mind is the international fashion hub in Hong Kong or that in Paris. Well, hold on. As we ready for another season of fashion, here is some news for the brand conscious and the fashion savvy to cheer. If the government of Karnataka has its way, the days are not far when Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, will join the line of these cities with the ‘world boutique’ tag.
In its continued endeavour to sell ‘Brand Bangalore’ to the international community, the government of Karnataka is learnt to be vying for the international fashion hub status, for which Delhi is also in the race.
Since quite some time, the Centre is keen on setting up an international fashion hub in the country. Delhi has shown interest in the project. However, due to the lack of suitable land, the project has not yet taken off. Meanwhile, the government of Karnataka, which has got suitable land in its possession, is trying to grab this opportunity, sources in the state government told.
Considering a proposal to push for the international fashion hub status to Bangalore, the government of Karnataka has conceded to make an initial allotment of 50 acres of land for the project, as against the requirement of 100 acres. The land is situated at the state-developed Doddaballapur apparel park in the outskirts of Bangalore. Due to its proximity to the new international airport and NH-2, the land is ideally located for the project, said a government official.
The detailed project report is under preparation. Once the report is ready, the state will take it forward to the Centre and will try to sell the idea ahead of any other state, the official said.
The fashion hub is envisaged to involve an investment of Rs 500 crore, to begin with. Grants and investments will be sought from the Centre, respective state governments and other stakeholders. The idea is to seek representation from all states of the country to showcase their specialty products. World-class restaurants, hotels, convention halls and many other facilities will feature in the fashion hub. It will be a one-stop solution for brands, suppliers, manufacturers, designers and models from all corners of the world.
Bangalore is fast emerging as an important sourcing hub for international top brands in apparel and accessories. There are more than 2,000 textile and garment units in Bangalore. The city is also the silk capital of India accounting for about 50 per cent of country’s silk output. Bangalore has also achieved fame for its gold and diamond jewellery. Being an IT/BT hub, and a medical tourist destination, the city attracts people from different countries. All these factors, along with the pleasant climate strongly favour Bangalore’s development into a fashion hub, feel designers and style experts.
About 30 companies have bought land in the Doddaballapur apparel park and a few of them, including Everblue Apparel Ltd, Bombay Rayon, Himatsingka Seide, and Amtek industries, have already moved in. The park is spread across 187 acres and the government is planning to go ahead with the second phase of expansion. However, there are several infrastructure issues that need to be addressed before any expansion takes place, say industry experts.
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