CCI Works to Ensure “Cotton Friendly” Market in India

By Jim.Robinson|May 24, 2012

A panel of cotton and textile industry associations in India addressed issues facing cotton at the retail level during CCI’s recent “Cottonscape” event in Mumbai. The panel included representatives from the Cotton Association of India, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry and the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India. The event featured fashion shows highlighting cotton apparel and attracted 67 media outlets, including print, television and online, with an estimated reach of 160 million people.

The panel focused on identifying and understanding issues facing cotton products in the Indian retail environment, such as eroding market share and competition from synthetic fibers. The panel agreed that:

•ensuring a cotton-friendly domestic consumer market needs to be addressed by the industry as a whole
•the needs of consumers and how cotton as a fiber can meet those needs should be better understood
•innovation is a critical element of cotton’s ability to be a preferred fiber by Indian consumers if cotton is to meet the challenge of competition from manmade fibers.
The event also included fashion and lifestyle elements used to create visibility for the Cottonscape advertising campaign. The campaign features a series of advertisements capturing cotton at various stages in people’s lives and appears in fashion and lifestyle magazines throughout India.

The event included three fashion shows that highlighted the versatility of cotton. In keeping with the theme of the Cottonscape campaign, the cotton fashions were shown for mid- and high-end demographics, and included fashions for a variety of age groups and occasions.