5 tips India's fashion entrepreneurs must follow

I spent all of last year researching and writing Start-Up Your Fashion Label - a comprehensive guide for aspiring fashion entrepreneurs in India, and I was amazed at the sheer potential of the country’s fashion industry.

If you want to start your own fashion label or want to be a fashion-oriented entrepreneur, I’d say "go for it"! Here are a few specific reasons why our nation as a whole needs more of you, more fashion start-ups.

Redefine "start-up" Sadly, the phrase "start-up" has come to signify IT and e-commerce businesses. If India is to genuinely leap forward in entrepreneur-oriented innovation, then we have to encompass several other industries such as fashion, food, entertainment, etc.

Intrinsically, fashion is innovative, creative and in today’s economic climate, viable - a perfect embodiment of the "start-up" spirit.

Respect women The influx of affordable international fashion brands is increasingly homogenising how many young women in India dress and worse, forcing us to fit into styles and patterns that are designed for underweight Caucasian woman.

We need more fashion start-ups - designers, labels, accessory makers - catering exclusively to Indian women; start-ups that understand not just our bodies, but also how we carry ourselves, our inhibitions, our constraints and our unique strengths.

Revive textiles

Whether it’s the colourful and creative Ikat dyeing or the intricate Kantha embroidery or the distinctive Kashmiri Kani weaving, India has an incredibly diverse and beautiful array of textiles.

For hundreds of years, our textiles have been coveted around the world, and new fashion start-ups are showing us there is a market, right here, in modern India for these ancient textiles. 

Also read: India's first plus size fashion show was a wasted opportunity

Have regard for local talent

Recently, the female employees of Bangalore’s garment sector, which produces for brands such as H&M, GAP and JC Penny went on a flash strike, protesting against the terrible work conditions.

For far too long, we’ve heard of international corporations exploiting India’s cheap labour. It’s time for a large number of fashion start-ups to emerge in India, produce on a smaller scale, and employ local talent.

Reap rewards With an increasingly fashion conscious domestic market, growing disposable income and diverse tastes, fashion start-ups have the potential to build a flourishing business. There is no time like the present to think of unique and unusual propositions as fashion designers, accessory-makers or textile conceptualisers.

As our Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech, Start-up India, Stand Up India!