LIVA: An evening to remember

Held at JW Marriott, Sahara Mumbai, the first-ever LIVA Accredited Partner Forum (LAPF) Confluence was a vibrant event.

The evening of the first-ever LIVA Accredited Partner Forum (LAPF) Confluence organised by LIVA, the natural fluid fashion fabric was full of colours, fashion &; vibrance. The event was held at JW Marriot, Sahara Mumbai. Having caught the imagination of the designers and top retail brand, LIVA, a fabric from the Aditya Birla Group, has embarked upon a larger plan to grow further in the domestic market to 4,000 stores from the prevailing 2,000 stores.

Speaking at Confluence - a LIVA Accredited Partner Forum platform – Dilip Gaur, Managing Director of Grasim Industries and Business Director pulp and fibre division, Aditya Birla Group, said, "In Spring Summer 2016, LIVA has presence in over 2,000 stores across 140 cities with 7 million garments tagged to the brand and we intend to double the outlets to 4,000 stores in the next two season. The growth of the brand is accelerating with each season. With the launch of LIVA CONNECT, a b2b digital platform we aim to give access to the unorganised sector and ensure that we widen and deepen the market at the same time."

The confluence conference saw presence of over 600 top industry players from across the country to deliberate various trends and options to grow the viscose pie in the domestic market.

"Currently, the per capita consumption of viscose fibre is 0.2 kg in India while the globally it is 0.75 kg and the same is twice in China at 1.5 kg. Globally, man-made fibres have growing faster than cotton, with viscose based fibre growing at 27 per cent CAGR while normal textiles have grown at 5 per cent CAGR over the past few years. Since the domestic market has been stagnant, we intend the portal to be an ideal platform for the trade to come on board to drive the eco-friendly vision of LIVA fabric," Gaur said.

Birla Cellulose has also been working on speciality fibre within the viscose segment that accounted for 36 per cent of the total portfolio in the just concluded year compared to 28 per cent in the previous year, Gaur said referring to the innovation initiatives undertaken within the company. The rising influence of LIVA in the organised retail sector would aid the non-branded segment with trickled down effect and c;reate the necessary consumer pull and awareness, he said.

At the conference, Narendra Kumar, renowned fashion designer pointed out that the demand for high fashion apparel is not restricted to metro cities only but also in tier-II and tier-III cities like Patna and Kanpur and LIVA has the potential to satisfy this growing demand.

LIVA is focussed on women's clothing - western, ethnic, fusion wears, leggings, palazzos, harem pants, stoles, etc and has ambitious plans to exponentially ramp up the women's wear sale in India based on the inherent potential it envisages. After leggings, LIVA's has forayed into sarees based on consumer insights with more developments in more categories in the coming months. LAPF confluence witnessed participation from the who's who of textile and clothing industry in India. The participation was enriching and extensive value exchange programme.

Grandmaster graces LIVA event
The event also witnessed the presence of world renowned Chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand where he gave an inspirational speech on 'What it Takes to Be a World Champion'. He shared his journey right from getting introduced to chess at the age of 6 till becoming the Grandmaster. He said, "I had to wait for three years to achieve my goal.

I kept missing winning the Grandmaster title consecutively for two years but I was determined about my game; and then I managed to bag the title with sheer patience &; tenacity. Similarly, you'll have many quiet years during your struggle, but there will be a day where you would see your efforts paying off well."

Anand is known for his strategy to win with his effortless moves &; confidence in his game which is what the brand LIVA stands for. The event also saw a fashion walk by stunning models donning LIVA outfits. Spectacular colorful styles which are flowy and fluid dominated this fashion parade followed by a rhythmic fashion show at the confluence.

The LAPF confluence concluded with popular Sand art artist Nitish Bharti (India's Got Talent fame) who displayed LIVA's successful journey through innovative sand creations.
Performances by dancers showcasing peculiar 'Fabric Dance proved to be one of the key highlights of the evening.

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