Abhay Kumat
CEO Kamadgiri Fashion Ltd.
Founding partner in M/s. Innovative Fabric Co. since 1993. Created a fabric brand right from inception to setting up a nationwide distribution network. Founding member of Faitma (Federation of All India Textile Mfrs. Association) a trade body of Textile Manufacurers working for improvement of industry. Part of managing team which organized various knowledge seminar, workshops & conventions including an all India CEO Conclave.

Ajit Mantagani
CEO-NSL Textiles and Apparel, Hyderabad
Mr. Ajit Mantagani is CEO of NSL Textiles and Apparel from October 2009. He build new Businesses and Brands - Raymond Denim & Garment Exports, Arvind Telecom, SIFY – BPO, Comcraft – New Paint unit in Nigeria, Asian paints ,Parryware and Berger paints. He was the Director of RPG Group from August 2008-October 2009.

Alok Dubey
VP & Business Head - Flying Machine & USPA
Alok is an MBA with over 21 years of wide experience in Sales & Marketing in Lifestyle Brands & Retail. After working for 15 years in Titan and Swatch and launching various brands and leading various successful ventures in his past stints he joined Arvind in 2003. At Arvind, he shaped up and led a very formidable business for all brands in departmental stores and then led the re-launch of Flying Machine brand very successfully. More recently he led the launch of US Polo Assn – a highly successful new brand in Men’s Premium Sports Lifestyle segment.

Bijou Kurien
Chairman, Pesident & CE, Reliance Retail, Lifestyle
Bijou has been associated with marquee brands in the consumer products industry for over 29 years. In his stint with Titan Industries, he helped build powerful brands like Titan, Fastrack, Sonata, Tanishq, etc and also create India’s largest exclusive brand retail chains. In his current stint with Reliance Retail, he is at the forefront of one of the most ambitious retail ventures ever. Bijou has been associated with the IRF and World Retail Congress and is also a member of the National Retail committee of FICCI and CII.

Mr. Bipin Chauhan
Director, JadeBlue Lifestyle India Ltd.
Mr. Bipin Chauhan is credited for introducing new benchmarks in fashion designing, bespoke tailoring and wedding couture. Since the last three decades, Mr. Bipin Chauhan leads a team of fashion designers at JadeBlue, the luxury lifestyle retail store chain known for the breadth and depth of men’s fashion. He has introduced a number of brands and labels at JadeBlue, like JadeBlue’s in-house brand and also greenfibre, J.B. Studio, Metal, Dulha Collection, and SuprEEmo. All of which are known for their immaculate, global and sharp styling while his client list reads more like a celebrity list that includes business tycoons, industrialists, top CEOs et al.

Dr. Darlie Koshy
DG & CEO, IAM
A Phd from IIT Delhi and rank holder in MBA, Dr. Koshy headed NID as Director and member of the Governing council from 5th June 2000 to end of October 2008. His contribution to design & management education & promotion has been recognized by being named twice as one of "50 leaders reshaping Indian Education" by Education World, The Human Development Magazine (Nov. 2006 & 2008) and has also been felicitated with the B M Das Memorial Citation in 2006 by CLRI, Chennai for his contribution "To the generation & development of knowledge as an applied researcher". He was conferred with the "Star of Italian Solidarity" one of the highest civilian awards of the Government of Italy by his excellency ambassador of Italy in March 2009.

Dr. P R Roy
Director, Fibre2 Fashion, Malwa Group, NSL Textiles
With over 40 years of rich experience in textiles, the former Group Chief Executive (Textiles) of Arvind Mills, Dr. Roy is revered as "Father of Denim in India". Responsible for reshaping Arvind Mills and making Arvind one of the leading global players in denim, Dr. Roy was also instrumental for identifying and setting up of Arvind’s future businesses such as high-value Shirtings, Bottomweights (Khakis) and Knits, which have all become strategic business units for the company today. He has been associated with Indian textile majors, govt. councils, trade bodies and research advisory. As a Management Consultant, Dr. Roy is currently a Director at Fibre2Fashion, Malwa Group and NSL Textiles.

Gaurav Mahajan
COO, Westside
Gaurav Mahajan is an alumnus of NIFT Delhi and GMP, Harvard Business School. He has over one and half decades of experience in organised retail with the highlight of his career being his contribution in the nurturing of Westside from a single store operation to one of the largest and fi nest private label chain stores in India.

Govind Shrikhande
President & CEO, Shoppers Stop
Govind Shrikhande spearheads Shoppers Stop, the largest department store chain in India. He is extremely focused on people and is passionate about products and services for the consumer. A textile graduate from VJTI, Mumbai and an MBA from Symbiosis, Pune, Govind has more than 25 years of experience in leading textile and apparel companies like Mafatlal, Arvind, Arrow and Bombay Dyeing. He was part of the team responsible for creating the Denim Revolution in India in the ‘90s. He was also a key member of the Arrow launch team, contributing to making it the No.1 shirt brand in the Premium category. He has won the Retail Professional of The Year award by CMAI in 2009 and the Most Admired Fashion Retail Professional of the Year by IMAGES in 2010.

Mr. Harminder Sahni
MD, Wazir Advisors
Harminder Sahni is Founder and Managing Director of Wazir Advisors – a consulting firm focused on consumer products and services sectors including Fashion, Food, Home, Consumer Durables, Automobiles, Entertainment and Wellness. Harminder has worked as a consultant last 14 years and was Managing Director and Partner of leading Indian consulting firm till recently. He has been involved in various corporate strategy, business creation, diversification and performance enhancement assignments across sectors for Indian as well as International clients. Harminder has also been instrumental in developing India entry strategies for many leading international companies and has also assisted them in finding suitable partners in India.

Mr. Jagdish Joshi
Mr. Jagdish Joshi gas an experience that spans over 25 years in sales, marketing and HRD Disciplines at progressive organizations. He is the Founder of “Businessman Ki Pathshala” (BMPS) a unique learning programme specially designed for Small and medium enterprises (SME’s) and Family managed Business (FMB’s).

Has traveled extensively to over 30 countries… amassed rich insights, observations and knowledge that enrich expertise in providing management solutions to Indian and global markets.

Jayant Kocher
MD, Go Fish Retail Solutions
Jayant Kochar is one of the pioneers of organised retailing in India, having successfully launched the French lifestyle brand Lacoste in India over 15 years ago. He also conceptualized and created the iconic chain of Espresso Bars - BARISTA. As the head of GO FISH, the country’s leading specialized retail consultancy, he has guided the entry of new retailers, and also helped many leading retail brands improve their performance. He shares his experience and expertise through unusual and exciting insights, which have made him one of the most sought after gifs at retail events in India and abroad.

Karunesh Vohra
CEO & Principal Designer, Munch Design Workshop
As a Principal Designer and CEO of Munch Design Workshop, Karunesh Vohra’s initiatives are a reflection of the growing maturity in the fashion and lifestyle industry. Having contributed 17 years to the industry, Karunesh saw the need for innovation in the design aspect of the business, which inspired him to set up Munch. Munch is an attempt to position design as a business enabler for players across diversified industries; its processes are focused on providing design solutions which are streamlined with the needs of the clients.

Kishore Biyani
Founder & Group CEO, Future Group
Kishore Biyani is the Group CEO of Future Group and managing director of Pantaloon Retail, which operates around 16 million square feet of retail space through chains like Pantaloons, Central, Brand Factory, Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, EZone and Home Town. The group also has presence in consumer finance, retail media, logistics and brand development.

Mr. Mihir Bhatt
Chief of Bureau, Zee Business
Mr. Mihir Bhatt is the Head of Bureau for Zee Business Mumbai with experience of over 11 years in Journalism. He is the primetime anchor for the channel and leads the Market Opening show - Share Bazaar Live and Mid day Calls.

He was part of the Indian Media Delegation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the G 20 summit held at Toronto in 2010 where the historic nuclear deal between India & Canada was signed.

Mr. Manohar Samuel
Joint President (Strategic Marketing), Grasim Industries Limited
Mr Manohar Samuel is an M-Tech in Textile Technology. He started his marketing career with Indian Organic & Chemicals Group (IOCL) and thereafter worked for Indo Rama Synthetics and Reliance Industries Ltd. He joined Grasim Industries Ltd. in June, 1999. Mr. Manohar Samuel has been in the Man Made Fibre industry for the past 25 years spread over to Polyester fibres with Indian Organics, Indo Rama and Reliance. He also leads the Textile Research and Application Development Centre (TRADC) which has facilities for spinning, weaving, knitting, garmenting and laboratory testing under one roof.

Prashant Agarwal
Managing Director of Bombay Rayon Fashions Ltd.
He holds a bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering from University Institute of Chemical Technology, Bombay. He has done MS in Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Refining from Colorado School of Mines at Golden near Denver, State of Colorado, USA. He is overall in-charge of operations and guides strategies initiatives in the areas of marketing, manufacturing and business developments.

Prof. P.B. Jhala
Advisor, Plasma Textile Applications, FCIPT, Institute for Plasma Research, Gandhinagar
Prof. P.B. Jhala, a Mechanical Engineer from Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar has 38 years of experience at his back in R&D in Textile Engineering at the famous Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA) from where he retired as Senior Deputy Director in 2004. Then, he was awarded the first John Bissell Research Chair at NID sponsored by Ford Foundation and completed its cycle of first four years (2004-2008) researching in the field of Nano and Plasma Technology Applications in Textile and Apparel which led to the development of Novel Air Plasma Technology for Angora Wool. He holds 20 Indian Patents on Textile Mechanisms and Automation. He was awarded British Council Bursary for training at the University of Leeds, UK in the year 1976. Thereafter, he received four National Awards for his contributions in textile machinery.

Rahul Mishra
NID & Designer, WIFW
Rahul Mishra, described as “the talent to watch out for” by French fashion doyen Didier Grumbach. This Post Graduate from NID, won the Best Student Designer award and followed it by winning the Pride of NID. After creating waves on the Indian Emerging Designers scene, Rahul went on to be the first Non – European Designer to win the prestigious Scholarship at the Istituto Marangoni, Milan. He is a staunch believer in integrating the rich heritage of Indian craft with the constantly varying pulse of global fashion.

Mr Rajiv Dayal
Managing Director, Mafatlal Denim Limited
Mr. Rajiv Dayal (54 yrs.) is a chemical engineer, from IIT Delhi. He has a total work experience of 32 years, of which 14 years was with Hindustan Lever Limited ( a subsidiary of Unilever plc), 6 years with Arvind Mills and 12 years with Mafatlal Denim Limited (previously Mafatlal Burlington Industries Limited).

Rakesh Biyani
Director & CEO-Retail, Future Group
Mr. Rakesh Biyani is a Director & CEO Retail Future Group.  He has been associated with the company for over 18 years and has been involved in the transformation of the company into one of the leading retailers in the country. In his executive role as the Chief Executive Officer (Retail), Mr. Rakesh Biyani leads the management and expansion of the company’s flagship formats, Pantaloons, Central, Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar. Rakesh is actively involved in Category Management, Retail stores operations and Information Technology.  

Shreyas Joshi
President - Group Apparel - Raymond Ltd.
Shreyas Joshi is presently the President – Group Apparel – Raymond Limited. Prior to that, he held the position of Executive Director for a year and a half with Ashima Group and before that he was holding senior position for 23 years with Arvind Mills Ltd. He has repositioned the brands like Park Avenue, Parx & Manzoni and put them on to growth path. He has also launched Park Avenue Women, Zapp & Raymond Premium Apparels and innovative retail formats – ‘Neckties & More” and ‘Shirts & More”. He is also recipient of the ‘Most Admired Brand Professional of the Year’ award from Images Group in the year 2006, and ‘Most Admired Brand Professional of the Year’ award in the year 2007 from CMAI, India. Shreyas Joshi is a B. Text. from M. S. University, Baroda; M. Tech - IIT Delhi and MBA from B. K. School of Business Management, Ahmedabad.

Mr. Somesh Singh
Join Director, IAM (Institute of Apparel Management)

The decade started with 2000 has been the golden era and beginning of Creative Economy. The last 10 years, business and interactivity has changed by the greatest innovations like Goggle, Facebook, You tube and the consumers today have become the part of “Impatience as a new life”.

Are the industries in India doing enough to endure and sustain the businesses like West which are surviving more than 100 years and moving away from people centric to system centric approach through integrating a continuously innovative systems and processes to adapt change, or whether the innovation has become integral part of “Concept to Consumer Chain” now. Are finished goods like garments and home products or raw material like fabrics, trims, accessories etc are able to match with the changing new age technologies that form Global Supply Chain Management and Dynamics of Fashion Industry today.

Will “Made in India or Innovate in India” will lead “Made in China” by 2020.

Ms. Sonika Khar
Ms. Sonika Khar has done 2yrs FDP from NID, Ahmadabad in 1999-01 and now is working with Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune for the last 6 years. She is a founder member of fashion Design Department of the institute. An expert in Design Methodology, Drape Design, Costume Design and Surface and Textile craft she has worked on various projects including Documentation of Costumes and Accessories of Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum at Pune & the costumes of Oscar nominated Bollywood movie called Paheli. She has nearly 13 years of teaching and industrial experience.

Ms. Vaibhavi Ranavade
Ms. Vaibhavi Ranavade is associate professor and founder HOD, Fashion Design Department at Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune since 2006. She is basically an apparel designer with a PG Degree in Clothing and Textiles from M.S. University of Baroda. She believes in promoting the cause of ethical design and sustainability. And has also worked in the area of designing and merchandising for menswear & women’s wear for brands like Globus, Arrow & Pepe Jeans.

Vijay Jhunjhunwala
He has been in the textile and garment industry for more than 25 years. At present he is looking after his retail shop "HOWRAH STORES LTD" which is a landmark shop in West Bengal and running a menswear brand "TABARD" which is being marketed almost all over India with more than 600 dealers

Mr. Kamal Kishore Beria
Partner, Nagarmal Sheonarain & Sons, Ara
Mr. Kamal Kishore Beria, the youngest in four brothers, started his business career as early as late nineties along with his brothers. He was instrumental in business development of his firm from Rs.20 millions in 2001 to Rs.320 millions now. His special skills, includes very deep understanding of the fabrics and its blend, which make him a renowned retailer between his suppliers, even when volumes were not that high as of today’s. All these years, his group is only selling cloths and one of the leading stores of Bihar.

Manish Dwarkadas Maheshwari
MD, Dwarkadas Shamkumar Textiles Pvt. Ltd,   Pune Textile Pvt. Ltd
He has more than 30 outlets (Wholesale-Retail) all over India and the total turnover of the group is approx 400 crores. He did his MBA from University of Leeds, UK.

Pravin jain, Jaihind
Jaihind is Pune’s largest Fashion store for men. It is a multi Brands outlet Retail Chain and has established a long-term association with many reputed National brands for its MBO retail chains. Besides this, Jaihind also retail its own private in-house labels in formal and casual wear.

S. Rajamouly
RS Brothers
R.S.Brothers is the fastest growing retail chain of textiles and garments in Andhra Pradesh. It is a leading trader of exclusive gold and diamond jewellery and gemstones. The Company is an ISO 9001-2000 firm and a privileged member of the Silk Mark Organization of India. R S Brothers group has already achieved a turnover of 450 Crores for the financial year 2009-10 and for this financial year it is expected to reach 550Crores turnover.

Rajesh Narkar
Malwa Group
Rajesh Narkar, joined the denim Industry in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He is a product marketer and has been at the forefront of marketing  both fabric and apparel.  At Arvind, where he spent fifteen years, he was involved in setting up the DNTG ( Development and New Technology Group), Product Management Teams and to spearheaded marketing and sales efforts in Europe for ten years based in London. He moved back to India in 2005, to help set up Arvind’s vertical jeanswear mfg set up at Bangalore which is one of the finest facilities in India. He joined the Malwa Group, in 2009, to evolve their global marketing and product efforts in both fabric and apparel.

Rajiv Ranjan
President, Mafatlal Denims
Rajiv Ranjan has been serving in the textile industry for the last nearly 35 years in various fields such as manufacturing, project management, marketing and general management.He has been associated with the Arvind Mafatlal Group for last 17 years, and during 1995 to 2005 was a part of the team which was responsible for planning, project execution and subsequently day to day management of Mafatlal Burlington Industries Ltd.( now Mafatlal Denim Ltd.), a group promoted company manufacturing denim fabrics. As President(Textiles), he has been heading the textile business at Mafatlal Industries Ltd. since 2005.

Samar Sharma
President -Apparel Business, Kamadgiri Fashion Ltd
Currently working as President-Apparel Business , for Kamadgiri Fashion Ltd, handling current manufacturing facilities and new projects into Branding and Manufacturing. Before joining KFL has worked with Raymond Apparel Ltd as Director –Supply Chain, handling Sourcing and Distribution for Apparel Brands under RAL’s umbrella.Previously worked with Ashima Dyecot Ltd, Arvind Mills Ltd and Maral Overseas Ltd in different management functions.

M.H. Gori
Pakiza Textile, Indore
Mr. M.H. Gori, what a dynamic entrepreneur to talk about. A versatile, passionate enthusiast, who started his career from scratch. He has travelled from being a holder of mere 2 X 2 handcart, to managing 1.25 million square feet retail space in Central India, thereby, becoming the most sought after retail leader. In addition to this, he has done noteworthy contributions in the fields of manufacturing, trading, education and the list goes on and on. Honesty, customer loyalty and drive for excellence has made Mr. Gori, a strong pillar of retail business in the heart of our nation.

Anil Biyani
Executive Director of Damodar Threads Ltd
He has been guiding the companies growth since the past 27 years with his positive approach and aggressive marketing .The company has under his guidance given many new products to the market. Linen like yarns in both spun & filament were first developed by Damodar and now widely used in shirting, suiting and home textiles.Damodar is a leader in specialty and value added yarns in cotton, polyester and poly/cotton.

DR. CLAUDIO D. MARTELLI
Marketing Director, Trigon Diligence, UK
He is a management and marketing specialist with over 25 years of experience in assignments for major textile and garment manufacturers as well as top fashion brand holders and numerous organisations and institutions, including both the EU Commission and The World Bank. He has extensive expertise in strategic reviews, business plans, market and sector studies, market entry plans and the implementation of co-operation agreements and joint ventures.

Mr. K.C. AGARWAL
Business Head, Fabric, Garment and Home Textile business
Mr.K.C. Agarwal is working with Sutlej Textiles and Industries Limited, a K.K.Birla group company. He is an MBA by profession and serving the group for last 28 years. He is currently the business head of their Fabric, Garment and Home Textile business. Apart from this he also oversees the company’s export and marketing activities. During his tenure, the company had various accolades including 7 SRTEPC Awards, one President Award and one State Award for export performance.

NEERAJ SHARMA
DGM – Blackberry
Mr. Neeraj Sharma joined blackberrys in 2000 as area sales manager. He has an extensive market knowledge of all india retail market. He was given an opportunity to handle product category in the year 2003 – dress line trousers and he took the category of dress line to different level with exponential growth. promoted to d.g.m – product in 2008 to head all the product categories with blackberrys.

MR.E.P. GOERGE
Managing Director of Novelty Clothing (P) Ltd.
Mr. George, aged 45 years, born and brought up in Kerala, the legendary son of legendary father Mr. Pavo, who was the founder of Novelty Group of companies in the year 1987. The formation of the Novelty Group begins near about a centaury back by his ancestors in the local town of Trichur District in Kerala. Gradually they were moved to wholesale textile trade and finally resulted to the procurement of major share of the wholesale trade in Kerala and thereby holding the No. 1 position for two decays.

PANKAJ KAPOOR
MD, Weavette
Pankaj Kapoor is the Director of Weavette Texstyles Ltd., a company engaged in the manufacturing of fashion fabrics for the domestic and export apparel industry. Weavette makes its presence felt in; both the Bottom as well as in the Shirt Weight fabrics industry. Weavette is a proud part of the Future Group, India’s leading retail business house. His contribution to the textile industry was recognized and he was awarded ‘P. V. MAN OF THE YEAR’ in the year 1996 by Hindustan Chambers. Pankaj Kapoor is an active member of FAITMA (Federation of All India Textile Manufacturers Associations)

PARVEZ KOTADIA
Country Manager India, SDC
Parvez Kotadia is MBA from NMIMS University Mumbai having experience of 11 years in development sector. His core responsibilities in SDC include supporting textile and coloration industry through training and technology transfer in India and Bangladesh besides maintaining corporate relationship for evolving trends in textile supply chain.

PAWAN JAIN
Chairman & Managing Director, Safexpress Private Limited
A known industry veteran and ‘Logistics Guru’ of India, Mr. Pawan Jain commands immense respect in the corporate fraternity. With an experience of over 3 decades, he has revolutionized the entire Supply Chain & Logistics industry in India. A man of deep insight and innovative thinking, Mr. Jain has keen understanding of Indian demographics and geography. He believes in gaining customer loyalty through exceptionally high levels of service quality, and that has been his mantra for success over the years. For his exceptional contribution to the Indian Economy, Mr. Jain has been conferred with numerous prestigious awards like the Lifetime Achievement Award by ELSC, Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award by PHDCCI, Retail Leadership Award by Asia Retail Congress, Pride of the Industry Award, Udyog Rattan Award, Indira Priyadarshini Award and Bharat Gaurav Puraskar among others.

Mr. R.K. Garg
COO, Belmonte
Masters in Business Administration from Punjab University in 1977, Mr R.K. Garg is a management professional with over 30 years of experience in the Textile, Garments, Fashion and Consumer Electronics Industry with leading Corporates like Grasim Industries, Reliance, The Arvind Mills Ltd, BSL Ltd of L.N. Jhunjhunuwala Group, Reid and Taylor I Ltd before taking over as Head of Business-Consumer Textiles with S. Kumars Nationwide Ltd. He has travelled widely across India and abroad and has in-depth Industry specific experience and expertise in handling a diverse range of operations from manufacturing, supply chain management, sales and marketing and Business Development with a proven track record of launching successful national and International fabric and garment brands like Scabal, Belmonte and Ruf and Tuf jeans.

Shribhai Mundra
Value Added Fashions
Value Added Fashion Fabrics Pvt.Ltd. is known in the fashion Fabric industry for its highly innovative fabric designs in various traditional and contemporary styles and arts. We specialize in production of products for women’s apparel. Our ethnic Indian products sell like hot cakes in the world fashion market. Value Added Fashion Fabrics Pvt.Ltd. is surely creating ripples in the fabrics export market in India as well as overseas. We pride in our exotic range of fabrics in dress material in plain, embroidery and value added variation, suits, duppatta, and similar products including in the indo-western ones.

Suresh Venkat
Anchor/Executive Producer, CNBC-TV18
Suresh Venkat is a Senior Anchor and Executive Producer with CNBC-TV18. Shows under his supervision include Tech Toyz, Emerging India Awards, Golden Cursor Animation Awards, Lessons in Marketing Excellence and Chota Business Bade Sapne amongst others. Suresh has been with CNBC-TV18 since 2004. He has previously worked as a producer with music television channel, Channel [v], and as a product designer for Titan Watches and The Bombay Store. Suresh is an alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.