Flipkart as part of its Abhiyaan “Flipkart Kaarigar ke Dwaar” has announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), a premier institute of fashion design, management and technology in India. The objective is to handhold students on the convergence of their interests, aptitude and practicality of implementation of ideas and evaluation of the success. The initiative is envisaged to enhance the learning experience of the students and make it market driven, thus changing the paradigm of how education is imparted to students in India.
The MoU lays emphasis to expose the students to practical business life so that they are better prepared and have clarity of thought by the time they finish their curriculum.
The partnership will increase NIFT’s students’ opportunity to develop their skills according to the career path that they wish to take, which could be:
1. To build private labels
2. Become entrepreneurs
3. Work with large fashion and retail brands
4. Explore research and academics.
The process aims to equip students with sufficient knowledge to enable them to choose the industry they would like to work in, like Fashion, Handicrafts or become artisans / artists.
The scope of MoU also covers NIFT Alumni who have started their own business and are looking for new platforms to market their products.
Mekin Maheshwari, Chief People Office, Flipkart said, “Fashion or art is an untapped market and today the industry needs capable and motivated people to drive it forward. Consumers are exposed to trends from across the globe and have begun to expect creative as well as unique products. By giving this exposure to the NIFT students Flipkart will make a difference to the way they build their careers as well as allow them to be more relevant to the industries that they choose to enter.”
“NIFT is already involved with grass root level artisans all over the country, through its Academic Craft Clusters Intervention. The missing linkage was the students having access to the market intelligence, linkage to the market and opportunity to evaluate their capabilities. We believe that this is an extremely relevant partnership and are delighted to be associated with Flipkart and Myntra, which will also give them access to other handloom, apparels, leather and accessory clusters. Flipkart’s business model gives them access to a lot of analytical data that will bring alive consumer as well as business trends. Therefore Flipkart is in an extremely authoritative position to impart this knowledge to our students”, said Shri. Prem Kumar Gera, (IAS) Director General, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India.
This MoU will benefit the efforts of NIFT in exposing the students to the market realities and hence train them at an early stage to develop skills according to their interests.
Flipkart as part of the Abhiyaan “Flipkart Kaarigar ke Dwaar”, has also signed a MOU with the Federation Of Indian Small Medium Enterprise (FISME) and also with the Director General – Employment & Training, Ministry of Labour and Employment (DGET), to help Indian MSMEs leverage the online marketplace platform to scale their businesses and supplement their employee requirements and upgrade their skills. Flipkart has also signed a MoU with DC, Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles.
These partnerships are envisaged to create huge employment and boost manufacturing. This will change the paradigm of growth to a job oriented one with Flipkart playing the role of an enabler of responsible, sustainable and inclusive growth. Thus rural economy will get a boost and the migration from rural to urban areas will reduce.
“The Flipkart marketplace has strong data analytics with respect to products which sell, price point, automated accounting, cataloging, packaging, transporting, returns from buyers, brand building, assured automated payments etc. Flipkart uses this data in partnering with the MSME’s to assist them in manufacturing as per the need of the market and enable MSMEs to sell their goods directly to the buyers not only in and around their villages but across the country thereby boosting manufacturing, helping the rural and urban economy and reducing the migration of rural populace to the urban areas. This will also create a fertile incubation ground for NIFT students”, said Shri. Gera.
This is the first time that such a tie-up has been initiated between with two prominent institutions to create a platform that is solely focused on the betterment of Indian fashion students, manufacturers and artisans. The partners believe this move will also benefit a lot of businesses, including first-time entrepreneurs as well as a large number of women entrepreneurs. The students will also get a marketplace to sell their designs and products without having financial wherewithal, a place of business or established brands. This will give a huge boost to India’s fashion industry. The marketplace platform will also help the designers get a better price for their products as the other missing linkages of logistics and payment is facilitated by Flipkart and Myntra.
Flipkart and Myntra will soon start selling products made from traditional techniques and hand-based processes on its website. Very soon, customers across the country will be able to buy Pochampally sarees and Madhubani paintings to collapsible wooden furniture, tussar silk kurtas designed by NIFT students. They will also have access to accessories like mobile covers with Patola designs or laptop bags with Ilkal/Maheshwar designs or iPad covers with Warli designs or purses with Varanasi brocades.
