The event was hosted by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, under the leadership of the Union Textiles Minister, Smriti Zubin Irani and Minister of State, Ajay Tamta. Secretary, Textiles, Rashmi Verma and other senior officials too were present on the occasion.
The event witnessed an inspiring experience of the major strands of the textile story of India, as represented by the leading crafts persons and fashion designers of the country. The presentation was a celebration of the textiles and handicrafts of India, bringing to the fore the inspiring vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi – “From Farm to Fibre, Fibre to Factory, Factory to Fashion, Fashion to Foreign.”
The evening saw the presence of political dignitaries, ambassadors of textile partner countries, industrialists, industry associations, leading fashion and media houses, including Dr. Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; H.E. Lorenzo Angeloni, Ambassador of Italy; H.E. Chitraganee Wagiswara; H.E. Melba Pria, Ambassador, Mexico; H.E. Dalton Sembering, Ambassador, Indonesia; H.E. Cho Hyun, Ambassador, South Korea; Shobhana Bhartia, Hindustan Times; Arun Poorie, Chairman & Editor-in-Chief, India Today; Muzaffar Ali, and Tarun Tahiliani.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Textiles Minister Smriti Zubin Irani said that the spectrum of Indian textiles is extremely diverse and its history is world-renowned. Irani said that Textiles India 2017 holds the promise of becoming a landmark annual trade event for the Indian textiles and apparel industry at the global level. With this curtain raiser, she said the Ministry is celebrating the significant achievements of India’s textile industry and the enormous promise of spectacular growth over the next few years. She applauded the community which manufactures the diverse fabrics, apparel and textiles in the country and creates handcrafted brilliance for the world to experience.
The Crafts Village was vibrant with unique exhibits celebrating the diverse crafts and textiles of India and the skills of the weavers and craftsmen from across the country, who were especially invited to be a part of this evening. The artisans presented live demonstrations showcasing the potential of the products for international markets. The international delegates that attended were extremely appreciative of the attention to detail and incredible hand-work of these artisans. The different mediums and the award-winning artisans are as below:
| Carpet Weaving | Mr. Fakre Alam (Mirzapur) |
| White Metal work (Chitai) | Mr. Mohd. Yusuf (National Awardee)
Mr. Farooq Khan (National Awardee) |
| Barmer Embroidery | Mr. Makhna Ram |
| Wood Inlay | Mr. Firoz Khan (National Awardee)
Mr. Kamal Matharu (National Awardee) |
| Crewel Embroidery | Mr. Noor Mohd. Bhat, SRINAGAR
(National Awardee) |
A representation of artisans, weavers, emerging & established designers from across the country celebrated the special preview to Textiles India 2017. The fashion designers and craftsmen showcased the strength of the Indian textiles sector in Cotton, Silk, Wool, Woven & hand-printed, Embroidered as well as Modern & Futuristic textiles.
The textile story was narrated through the works of Abraham & Thakore, Anita Dongre, Anuj Bhutani, Anuradha Pegu, Amit Aggarwal, Chaman Premji, Good Earth, Hemant Agarwal, Kaleekal, Masaba Gupta, Madhu Jain, Manish Arora, Manish Malhotra, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Rahul Misra, Ritu Kumar, Rimzim Dadu, Rohit Bal, Sanjay Garg, Sabyasachi, Samant Chauhan, Shades of India – Mandeep Nagi, Sunita Shankar, Suket Dhir, Wendell Rodricks & Tarun Tahiliani.
Textiles India 2017 is a landmark global trade event for the Indian Textile and handicraft Sector that will showcase the entire range of textile products from ‘Fibre to Fashion’ and will be inaugurated by the Hon”ble Prime minister, Narendra Modi. The aim is to make it one of the key annual destinations for International Buyers. Textiles India 2017 is scheduled to be held at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar from June 30 to July 2, 2017.
It shall have more than thousand stalls and will witness the presence of over 2500 discerning International buyers, agents, designers, retail chains from across the world, and 15000 domestic buyers. The three day event will include global conference on the last day with six themes, to be chaired by concerned Union ministers and the Valedictory session presided over by the Union Finance Minister. Over 33 round-tables will be held on issues of concern for the various segments of textiles and handicrafts on the second day i.e., 1st July, with prominent international speakers & industry leaders.
Source: PIB