Apparel Online India Magazine May 1-15, 2019 | Page 6

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’s DESK… In my long journey of over 22 years in the apparel industry, I have heard so many rumours, personal issues, industry concerns and speculations, that I have lost count. But one and only philosophy has been the decider on what should go into the magazine – and that is the potential impact of the statement being made on the industry. Individual grievances and ranting, is not our cup of tea, but yes if a lot of people are saying the same thing and the result could affect the industry, it is of vital importance that the information be shared and solutions found. Another rule that we abide by is to always go back to the company or person at the centre of the ‘speculation’ to seek their response. And we are happy that most of the times we do get a response that eventually gives a true picture. But then, despite all the talks about transparency, many companies laugh off news as rumours and the next thing we know is that the news was true… a case in point is the closure of the high-profile Shivam Apparels, Faridabad in the mid 2000s. We had confirmed inside information, but when the team talked to Shankar Angrish, he refuted the information claiming that trouble-mongers from his factory who had been fired were spreading rumours… three days later, the company shut doors! We have always stood by the industry and continuously networked to pick up every lead that would be of interest to the industry. When Karstadt declared bankruptcy in 2009 and Li & Fung refused to take responsibility for payments to vendors, we accompanied the industry at every meeting whether with Li-Fung, the AEPC or the Ministry for justice; we even sat at the dharna outside Li & Fung’s office to demand rightful payments for the 80 exporters, many of whom had to shut down business because of heavy losses. I remember when we openly criticised NGOs for hounding exporters in the name of labour welfare and publishing global reports based on interview with 2-3 workers, damaging the reputation of the companies and industry, a few years ago… many players applauded our efforts and Dr. Dietrich Kebschull, Chairman of IGEP and Champion of workers’ rights came to the office to congratulate us on taking such a bold stand. There are many such examples, from the court case on FFI by Clean Clothes Campaign, to worker deaths at Gokaldas Exports and Bombay Rayon Fashions to worker disputes at CTA Apparels… in each case, we invited the companies to present their side of the story, leaving it to the intelligent reader to take home what they believe is the truth. Many years ago, when the Country Manager of William-e-Connor was asked to step down and many big names from the industry including Orient Craft were being floated in connection to the turn of events, we contacted each one of them for a story and everyone shared their interpretation of the series of events. The same is true for the outset of Adil Raza from JC Penney. I am sure my readers remember the hue and cry, but truth always prevails. Two years ago, when we diligently started questioning the functioning of AEPC, many accused us of being biased, but all our information was backed by documents and we kept asking the AEPC to be transparent. Initially they resisted, but when we stood by the industry in its demands for fair voting, new rules of governance and more transparency, meeting government officials for change, the team opened up and with EVS now in operations, the elections is not a sore topic anymore! Our magazine has even gone to the extent of filing an RTI to know the truth of funds taken in the name of skill development. All information received in this regard were published in the magazine. We, as industry media, are motivated to bring to the table everything that the industry should know so that informed decisions can be made and they are not taken by surprise. The idea is not to harm individuals or companies but to report and inform the industry about the good, bad and ugly, which may have significant impacts. And every company has the right to refute and share their story… 6 Apparel Online India | MAY 1-15, 2019 | www.apparelresources.com EDITORIAL TEAM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Deepak Mohindra EDITOR Ila Saxena COPY EDITOR Veereshwar Sobti ASST. EDITOR-NEWS Dheeraj Tagra ASST. EDITOR - FASHION Anjori Grover Vasesi FASHION CORRESPONDENT Shubhi Srivastava FEATURE WRITER - FASHION & BUSINESS Shraddha Gupta SUB EDITOR Priyanka Mishra CREATIVE TEAM Raj Kumar Chahal Peeush Jauhari Satyapal Bisht PHOTOGRAPHER Vishal Chaudhary OPERATION DIRECTOR Mayank Mohindra PUBLISHER & MANAGING DIRECTOR Renu Mohindra HEAD OFFICE Apparel Resources Private Limited B-32, South Extension-1, New Delhi-110 049 (India) Phone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected] Web associate: www.apparelresources.com PRINTING TARA ART PRINTERS PVT. LTD. B-4, Hans Bhawan, B.S. Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002 Tel: [phone] SUBSCRIPTION RATE Yes, I wish to subscribe to Apparel Online INR 2400.00 24 issues *This rate is valid only for subscription in India Subscription within India – Send Cheque/DD to Apparel Resources Pvt. Ltd. B-32, South Extn. 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