Webinar on Fashion Conscious to Fashion Conscience 2021 @ ICAT, Bangalore

Fashion Design department Of ICAT Design and Media College, Bangalore, organized an International Webinar on “Fashion Conscious to Fashion Conscience” from 16th to 18th September 2021. It was a 3-day webinar which focused on bringing out awareness on the path from fashion conscious to fashion conscience. The webinar was an initiative to bring together experts from the field of fashion and discuss the threats the fashion industry poses to the environment and also to enlighten the solutions & necessary steps required to solve these major issues. The webinar had sustainability champions. Through the webinar, the resource persons shared their experiences and vision for the future by working towards replacing the ‘material economy’ with green innovations that are environmentally, socially and culturally viable. They discussed the issues in the fashion industry and some effective solutions that can make the world walk towards sustainability.

The webinar started with an inauguration session on 16th Sep 2021 at 10:00AM which was addressed by Founder and Chairman, Mr. K. Kumar Sir. The webinar had a beautiful start by the Chief Guest- Mr. Upendra Pratap Singh, IFS, Commissioner for Textile Development and Director of Handlooms and Textiles Department, Bangalore; and Guest of Honor - Dr. NVR Nathan, Advisor Govt of Andhra Pradesh & Kerala. The gathering was welcomed by Vice Principal, Mrs. Hemalatha Doddamani with an inspiring and thought provoking welcome speech.

Mr. K. Kumar

Founder & Chairman of ICAT & IMAGE Groups and Image minds, Mr. Kumar sir addressed the inauguration session of International Webinar on “Fashion Conscious to Fashion Conscience" on 16th Sep 2021 at 10:00 AM. Sir shared the current situation of impulsive purchase in terms of clothing. Enlightened the principle he follows in terms of his wardrobe, where he donates his old clothes for the needy people and ensures they are re-used. Sir shared his ideas on how the government or people can collect the non-using garments/clothes and re- use or recycle them.

Key points

Re-using the garments/ clothes which are not being used.
Awareness for the young minds to walk towards the circular clothing.
Importance of renewable resources and water.

Mr. Upendra Pratap Singh, IFS

Chief Guest for the inaugural session Mr. Upendra Pratap Singh, IFS, Commissioner for Textile Development and Director of Handlooms and Textiles Department, Bangalore addressed the gathering. He expressed the importance of old culture where reusing clothes was an important practice and is needed to be practiced again by a much larger population today. He also spoke about various government schemes/policies that exist to take care of the wastage from all textile sectors and how it's managed & controlled. He very beautifully explained that it is a circle, we take & harvest from nature and giving back should be in a similar non-polluting manner. Polluting nature via any product is basically polluting the other fields, as it’s all interconnected.

Key points

Utilization of natural resources in such a manner that the future generations’ interests or survival is not hampered.
Importance to implement the use of sustainable products/materials.
Re-using & re-cycling are needed as it controls the need / requirement of more production.

Dr. N V R Nathan

Guest of honor for the inaugural session was Dr. N V R Nathan, Advisor Govt of Andhra Pradesh & Kerala. Sir has done PhD in Business Studies and is an MBA in marketing and in economics, Recipient of Bharat Gaurav Award & Samaja Shri Award. With 38+ years of diverse experience in Strategic Management, Operations Management, Business Development and Channel Management/ Distribution in the manufacturing and service industry. He shared his perception on fashion and the impact the fashion has on the people and environment. The need for changes in the fashion industry to speed up preserving Mother Nature were addressed.

Key points

Importance of Sustainability in the fashion field.
Awareness of shifting slowly towards eco-friendly products or eco-friendly life.
His journey in setting up numerous fashion colleges, apparel management institutes and skill development centers supported by the Ministry of Rural Development.

The international webinar started off on a great note. As a token of gratitude from the Department of Fashion Design, ICAT Design and Media College, saplings were planted in the name of Founder & Chairman – Mr. K. Kumar Sir, Chief Guest – Mr. Upendra Pratap Singh, Guest of Honor - Dr. NVR Nathan and all resource persons. Beautiful portraits of all dignitaries were made by Mr. Anup and Ms. Arshi as a token of appreciation.