French Experts: Persian Fashion Industry Needs Overhaul
TEHRAN –(Iranart) - It is the belief of French fashion marketing expert Corrine Gassert that all the great potentials of Persian fashion industry, particularly embroidery, have been largely overlooked in Iran.
Speaking to Honaronline, Gassert said Persian embroidery needs to find a new concept instead of being a decorative art and so.
Embroidery is one of the Persian arts. It uses mostly floral motifs, especially Persian figures, animals, and patterns related to hunting. Persian embroidered women's trouserings have rich patterns; these were in fashion until the late 18th century. The designs are always of diagonal, parallel bands filled with floral ornamentation.
In this respect, the French expert, who took part in this year’s Fajr Fashion and Clothing Festival in Chabahar, said: I saw new things during the festival which was attended by representatives from at least 18 countries, including France and Germany. I never thought Iran could be such an open and colorful society. I was wrong.
She added: What I saw was different tastes in Persian fashion, designs, colors, and arts. What you hear abroad is not what you see up close and personal in Iran. That’s why I believe Iran and France could do great works together in the fields of art and culture. After all, they have deep-seated relations and cultural commonalities.
On Sistan and Baluchestan’s embroidery, Gassert said: The region has great potentials in fashion. I love Persian embroidery. The festival was a great opportunity and experience for me. Hospitality was top-notch and I cannot wait to come back again next year.
Also speaking to Honaronline, Mario Miranda, a fashion marketing expert and scholar, said I had a workshop during the Chabahar festival and I loved the superb experience.
The scholar added: Iran is an interesting country and I’m delighted to be here. I had organized marketing workshops for students at Tehran’s Amir Kabir University. The clothing and fashion industry needs inner or domestic concepts. Each country has its own unique culture, but to globalize your fashion industry, you need to globalize the concepts of your local clothes and designs. This way you won’t need to translate your clothes in order to market them as successful brands.
Mario Miranda
Miranda went on to explain that Fashion is a popular style, especially in clothing, footwear, lifestyle and accessories. Fashion is a distinctive and often constant trend in the style in which people present themselves. That’s why Iran’s fashion industry needs to localize its concepts.
On the fashion marketing workshops – from strategy to branding – the scholar said the idea was to focus on the fashion industry through a business and management perspective and making it look simple. It provided students the necessary tools to understand the dynamic context of the fashion business in Iran and abroad. This is while marketing is yet to be taken seriously in Iran.
On marketing, Miranda said students were also introduced to fundamentals such as fashion industry sourcing, decorating, brand marketing; internationalization of fashion retailing; branding and so on. Regrettably, this is yet to be taken seriously in Iran.
In conclusion, the marketing expert said the consumer market in Iran is young. The country has great potentials to globalize its fashion industry. However, it lacks the necessary tools and the means for that. Still, it can have a say in the global fashion industry.
In the end, Miranda welcomed the idea for Isfahan to host next year’s Fashion and Clothing Festival, arguing that it will be a successful event because the ancient city of art and culture can easily attract international guests, experts and scholars.
The 8th edition of the Fajr Intl. Fashion and Clothing Festival was held from 14 to 17 February 2019 for the first time in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan province, in the south east of Iran to display Iranian art at international level. The eighth edition hosted 18 countries from Asia and Europe. Tunisia, Singapore, Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Italy, Syria, Oman, France, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, Spain and Indonesia attended the festival.