Government to hold first B2B event to promote Indian textiles, handicrafts

New Delhi, April 19 (IANS) The rich legacy of India textiles and handicrafts is set to foray into the global market at an international trade event to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June that will showcase products from "Fibre to Fashion".

The Ministry of Textiles held a curtain raiser at the Crafts Museum here on Tuesday to 'Textiles India 2017' - the first global business to business textile and handicrafts event in India - scheduled to be held in Gujarat from June 30 to July 2.

The preview to the main event saw the representation of artisans, weavers, emerging and established designers from across the country.

Fashion designers and craftsmen showcased the strength of the Indian textiles sector in cotton, silk, wool, woven and hand-printed, embroidered as well as modern and futuristic textiles.

The textile story was narrated through the works of well-known designers like Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Rahul Misra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and many others.

Union Minister for Textiles Smriti Irani inaugurated the event to celebrate textiles and handicrafts legacy of India that highlighted Prime Minister Modi's vision - "From Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, Fashion to Foreign."

"The textile sector in India has got huge potentiality in terms of employment opportunity," Irani said at the event.

She said with rich handicraft collection, the 'Textile India 2017' would showcase more than 1,000 stalls from across the country.

Ace designer Sabyasachi told IANS on the sidelines of the event: "I am very happy to be a part of the initiative and contribute in taking ahead this movement. My work focuses on zardozi material from West Bengal."