Raymond in pact with NIFT

Raymond today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Fashion Technology for collaboration in tailoring services and research and development.

Pradeep Bhandari, group president, Raymond, said the MoU was aimed not only at improving Raymond's tailoring service, but also to recognise and nurture talent in the fashion industry.

Raymond has also instituted the 'Raymond Scholarship' under which it would sponsor the top student in each semester across the different NIFT branches as well as absorb students from NIFT.

The NIFT faculty would have an opportunity to visit the Raymond operations and, in turn, NIFT would provide customised training to the Raymond staff, especially the tailors at the Raymond stores to upgrade their skill sets to what was required in an organised set up.

Bhandari declined to comment upon how much the group would invest into this initiative saying that they were committed to invest in this on an ongoing basis.

Gauri Kumar, director general, NIFT, said this would be a synergistic and symbiotic relationship that both would benefit from. "It is important to anticipate the future challenges and prepare to meet those, which is what we will do through this association," she said.

As per the MoU, both parties would work together on specific R&D projects on issues like standardization of sizes in India and colour and fashion forecasting keeping the Indian sensibilities in mind. Kumar said that so far Indian designers adapt the international forecasts to suit Indian aesthetics and designs.

Initially for a two year period, both parties said that this was the initial phase of the association and this would be extended to other areas as well.