He’s responsible for taking Indian fashion to the global ramp. Sumeet plans to take the Indian fashion fraternity to the next level, as he reveals to Angshuman Paul
Sumeet Nair
MD, Incube Fashion
Sumeet Nair belongs to that extraordinary class of people, who believe in creating a different path and in trying something new. So it’s not surprising that, this alumnus of Stanford University started his corporate endeavor with the furnishing business and later forayed the fashion fraternity. Christened as Black Eye Design, his first venture of furnishing business won him leading global fashion clients like Donna Karen, Calvin Klein and French Connection. But Sumeet’s claim to fame comes from somewhere else – while undertaking his business, Sumeet actively became involved in the setting up of a fashion council, an endeavour that finally gave rise to the iconic Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) which gave India its first Fashion Week.
Framing the concept of the Fashion Week and giving it a global feel was not easy way back in 1997, particularly when the Indian fashion industry was at a nascent stage and very unstructured. The biggest hurdle was to bring all the designers under one roof; and managing creative people was surely not an easy task. But with his never-say-die attitude and instinctive managerial skills, Sumeet accomplished this feat and gave India its unique series of gala fashion events – firstly, the Lakme India Fashion week, and then, the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week.
Along with changing the landscape of Indian fashion, Sumeet was also credit with making it more financially viable. When FDCI was having a financial deficit, Sumeet was automatically appointed as the ‘doctor’, and more often than not, he would resolve it effectively. After leaving FDCI, Sumeet dabbled in various areas, till he set up Incube Fashion Private Ltd, an endeavour to take the fashion industry into the next level.
Incube Fashion’s basic objective is to generate more business and finance for Indian designers. As of today, Incube Fashion works as a financial consultant, provides licensing, and even assists in getting corporate brands to tie up with the country’s ace designers. Rohit Bal’s recent tie up with the Outlander Signature Collection from Mitsubushi was conceptulaised and finalized by Sumeet’s Incube Fashion. Even the Tarun Tahiliani-Timex agreement is being credited to Sumeet. As this is slated for a pre-Diwali launch, Sumeet refused to divulge any further detail to us. When we meet him now, he explains further, “I want to create a Calvin Klein and a Giorgio Armani from the Indian fashion industry and we at Incube Fashion are doing brand building at those levels.”
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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