Myntra Fashion Incubator programme kicks off, selects 11 new talents

At a time when the promotion of the young and creative is considered to be a prerequisite of the Indian fashion industry, the Myntra Fashion Incubator (MFI) programme is sure to grab the attention of the experts belonging to the creative sphere. To provide a platform to budding designers from across the country, the e-commerce company has selected 11 new faces who will be trained under their first batch of Designer In Residence (DIR) module.

As part of the one year Designer In Residence (DIR) Programme, Myntra will provide the selected candidates necessary design and work infrastructure, capital support and mentorship from a team of acclaimed designers. The programme would cover essentials like branding, consumer behaviour, product design and development, pricing, inventory planning, retailing and financial planning among others.

The final names under the MFI programme included Metallurgy by Advaeita Mathur, The Lokal South Kallection by Darshana Sukumar, Ek Karkhana by Preeti Wanchoo, Picnic by Harleen Kaur, ex.pression.ist n by Mohammed Javed Khan, Tortus by Raghav Sethi, ASA by Shreya Oza, The Ink Bucket by Vidhi Khandelwal, Vaishvik by Rajesh Maratha, Anwar Khan by Anwar Khan and MAD on FAD by Priyanka Kumar.

Close to 30 applicants were asked to present their creative and scalable business ideas to the jury and out of it 11 got into the final list, chosen by the jury panel that included some of the popular names from fashion industry and experts in the retail industry along with Myntra's leadership team.

From Wendell Rodricks, Rina Dhaka, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna and Paras Bairoliya to industry officials like Anant Daga, CEO, TCNS Clothing company, Sandeep Mukim, CEO, Proline India Ltd, Simeran Bhasin, CMO, Wildcraft were also part of the jury, everyone seemed to be bowled over by the confidence and creativity that these young faces had to offer while representing their designs and ideas.

"I am very happy with this initiative because I I truly believe in next generation. I interacted with every designer and they are great. We need to understand that we were also new when we started so let them get a chance and see how they grow. With corporate backing like Myntra, I think it will help the young designers to flourish in days to come but they have to understand one thing that one can't be commercial and creative at the same time," Rodricks told IANS.

Designer Rahul Khanna of the famous duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna shared that he was looking for someone who can play with fabrics and textures. "I'm looking at a person who has the knowledge of fabrics and techniques. For me , finishingA and the clear idea about their brand is very important. Those who have five years of experience won't be confused," he told IANS before the final round.

These 11 students will be the part of the first batch of the incubator programme and will occupy the design space inside the Myntra campus by Jan 15, 2015 and work full-time on their brand.

Sharing the idea of how Myntra came up with this unique programme, Abhishek Verma, senior vice president, Myntra Fashion Brands, told IANS: "We got to know that there are lot of young names who have great business and I know that fashion is a tough business and risk too so we thought there is demand and supply of talent. We have created a brand which is doing very well for us and hence it almost felt natural for us to do this as a step to promote young names."

"We are playing a role of mentor and infrastructure provider with no interference in the creative aspect. I think if we will do that, we will lose the spark. I think the designers themselves have to see what the market is like and create something that is both commercial and design led from their own."

MFI would also provide these candidates an opportunity to showcase their brands in various platforms as well as to be retailed on Myntra.com.

After completing one season, they could also pitch their fashion designs to the MFI advisory board for investments to scale their business.