Buying clothes and shoes becomes difficult many a times when we Indians are made to look at the size charts while picking our choices. This happens because the sizes mentioned are mostly US sizes. A Large size attire for an India may actually be a Medium size for a US citizen. How to finalise the sizes while shopping in such cases is quite a big rocky confusion.

To bring the nerves at ease and to do away with this confusion, an Indian size survey called INDIAsize was officially launched as a joint initiative of Ministry of Textiles and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).  The aim of this survey is to introduce a new standardised size chart in India in the ready-to-wear clothing industry.

The project INDIAsize was announced in February 2019 but got delayed because of the pandemic the same year in March. “The new sizing chart will have a size identification number, which will be created by mapping, categorisation and defining of the body size and type. Currently, only about 18 countries in the world have their own sizing charts,” said Upendra Prasad Singh, Secretary, Textiles.

Surveys are being conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Shillong and Kolkata with respect to the size-chart. Survey is currently underway in Delhi. It aims to reach around 5700 participants. A safe 3-D whole body scanner technology is being used. There is a lot of difference in body type between Indians and Europeans as mentioned earlier. India is also likely to come up with own shoe-sizing system. The survey is expected to complete by the end of 2022.

The new size survey has received support from the Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI). There are plans to get international clothing brands to subscribe and adhere to the new sizing chart. “It’s good business sense. A lot of money and energy is spent just returning ill-fitting and wrong-sized clothes,” said Noopur Anand, professor, NIFT and principal investigator of the project. The INDIAsize survey is part of a larger “fibre-to-fashion” initiative of the Ministry of Textiles.

The vision of the survey is to provide well fitted clothes for the Indians. This will also help manufacturers to produce goods suited for the body size of the target consumer and help consumers to identify sizes which will be best suited for them resulting in a match and hence sales.

(with inputs from tie and ht)