Are you an aspiring fashion designer?

Have you graduated from a fashion institute?

Then, besides starting your own label, there's yet another career opportunity that could earn you dream clients and international exposure.

Fashion designer Divya Raman, who works with 'Apparel Design Outsourcing' company Munch in Bangalore, explains: "As students we all dream of starting our own fashion labels. What we don't understand is that there is already so much of competition in the market. Some of my friends prematurely started their own labels and ended up at run-of-the-mill boutiques doing embroidery and sequin work. This happened because they did not understand the market at the time."

"Working with Munch has given me the right perspective. Five years down the line, if I decide to start my own label, I will be equipped with the right knowledge to do so," she adds.

What exactly is an ADO?

An ADO is a KPO, where the core skill needed is fashion design.

In the past, India was viewed as a cost-effective manufacturing base for foreign fashion brands. However that is quickly changing. For instance, Orsay, a 30-year-old international fashion brand for young women that has more than 400 retail outlets across eight European countries, looked to Munch to cater to their design needs.

In-house design studios vs ADOs

Domestic apparel companies like Madura Garments, Arvind Brands, etc, have in-house design studios and employ designers to take care of the designing needs for their respective brands. The nature of work both in an in-house design studio and an ADO company may be similar to a certain extent; the difference is in the implementation.

In an in-house design studio, you are limited to designing for a single brand.

In an ADO company, you might be designing for Westside or Dockers today and John Players and Orsay tomorrow. You might get the opportunity to design for international labels too.

Fashion designer Nidhi Raj, who worked for nearly five years with Madura Garments as an in-house designer, recently started his own ADO company, Dog Police Design Solutions.

He says, "When you work for an organisation like Madura, you are confined to one brand. Hence, the scope for experimentation is less. In an ADO set-up, you might be catering to two different brands with two very different concepts, targeting two very different sets of consumer profiles at the same time."

For instance, you could be designing fashion accessories for an Indian brand like Westside, jeans for a brand like Levis and apparel for an international brand like Orsay simultaneously. The requirements of an Indian customer are completely different from that of an international consumer.

The ADO process

A fashion brand may approach an ADO company for various reasons.

1. Launching a new brand.

2. Making internal changes to existing brand

If recognition in the market is less, the company may decide to showcase the brand in a different and more effective way. It could change its target customer, designs, colours, styles, etc.

For instance, if a brand making men's formal shirts (targeting men aged between 28-45 years of age) is unable to make an impact in the market, it might decide to change its target customer base to the 18-25 years age group and come out with a range of trendier products.

3. Re-conceptualising/ giving a new look to an existing brand

This would change the look of the brand to make it more consumer-friendly, exciting and attractive.

For instance, the softdrink brand 7-Up changed the look of its bottle and brand image from cool to sexy.

The steps involved for all three are the same, as follows:

i. Research: Gathering data on the brand, company, end consumer, market in which the brand/ product will be launched/ re-launched, the sensibilities of the customer, etc.

ii. Analysis: Analyse the data to come up with solutions that best suit the brand's aspirations and meets the needs of its end consumer.

iii. Trend forecasting: Based on the research data, forecasting the colours, prints and styles that would be current and would work for the brand in the coming season.

iv. Concept: Developing the core idea based on research, analysis and trend forecasting.

Depending on how the company wants to position its brand in the market (high-end and exclusive or reasonable and affordable), who would be interested in buying the end product, existing competition from similar brands, pricing, etc, are some of the factors based on which the ADO creates a design plan for the client. 

vi. Production: The process of designing the clothes, textiles, prints, accessories, etc, that is part of the brand product.

vi. Packaging: Developing a concept for presenting the final product in a way that is attractive and appeals to the end consumer.

The conversion of the product from the concept stage to product stage is done by a team of fashion designers, accessory designers, textile designers, graphic designers and researchers.

These are also the core job profiles in an Apparel Design Outsourcing company.

You may also wonder what makes India a design destination?

Jean-Pierre Pharaon, director, Orsay, is convinced they will gain by their collaboration with Munch. India's strengths are its traditional crafts and techniques, India's diverse textile base, access to facilities across printing, embroideries, appliqu� techniques that provide the freedom to experiment and, of course, talent, in the form of students from fashion design institutes.

Who is your clientele?

They could be international retail brands like Orsay and Polo.

They could be Indian apparel and accessory brands.  You also have Indian exporters who manufacture apparel.

Till now, apparels were designed in US or UK and the manufacturing orders were given to South Asian exporters (India, China, Sri Lanka [Images], etc). Their quota was decided on the basis of their capacity to produce. The company that had more resources and could manufacture more numbers in less time would get the bigger order.

The quantity of the goods mattered more than their quality.

Now, things have changed. Design can add value. Exporters who can offer products designed to suit the needs of the end consumer will have more takers. In the export market, this will give India an edge over its biggest competitor, China, which has a huge manufacturing base.

Karunesh Vohra, CEO and principal designer, Munch Design Workshop, says, "Design provides exclusivity and superiority to exported apparels in a market that is governed by quantity, not quality."

Want to work for an ADO company?

According to Karunesh, the following prerequisites will help you get a job:

~ You could have passed out of a design institute like NIFT or NID.

~ You must have ideas.

~ You must be observant. This will help you to gauge consumer tastes, preferences, etc, better.

~ You must be able to think 'out of the box'.

~ You must have the curiosity to learn about the latest developments in the industry and how you can use it to enhance your work.

~ Open-mindedness and the ability to accept advice and feedback is also a must.

~ The ability to focus on detail.

~ You should have the ability to think ahead -- beyond the obvious. For instance, if you launch your client with a certain image today, how will they maintain it under different circumstances, is your idea feasible in the long run, etc.

~  Good communication, management and organisational skills.

~ The ability to multitask. For instance, can you handle two to three client portfolios if required? Also, if you are an apparel designer, you should be able to do accessories too.

If you feel you have these abilities, then an ADO company might be a good career option for you. However, you must have specialised in apparel, accessory, textile or graphic design.

Work culture

You could start with a pay of up to Rs 15,000 a month.

The work culture is casual and gives one a lot of freedom to experiment and to think out of the box.

Says Karunesh, "Our designers are free to come up with business ideas and convert them into business models. They travel a lot and are exposed to different cultures. They study the end consumer, do market research, deal with clients and vendors. They, as individuals, become the point of contact between a brand and the vendor."

The average age of the designers is around 25 years; however, you could also be a fresher from a design school.

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