Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) participated in the 22nd India International Leather Fair (IILF-2007), which was held between January 31st and February 3rd 2007 in Chennai. The four-day exhibition had over 390 companies including 138 from 21 countries.

The IILF 2007 showcased a rich repertoire of leather goods and accessories ranging from finished leather, shoes, garments, fashion accessories, travel-ware, portfolios, belts, gloves, saddlery and harness to ancillary and auxiliary, chemicals, machinery, publication and consultancy services.

According to Mr. Rajeev Lakhara, IRS, Managing Director, FDDI, “The fair was organized at par with international standards & was one of the most effective mediums to directly reach our target segment by all those on the threshold of choosing a career and upgrading their skills in the area of Retail Management, Fashion, Footwear Design, Technology, Management, Fashion Merchandising, Marketing, Creative Designing & CAD/CAM, Leather Goods & Accessories Design etc.”

“The fair was successful to provide a forum for interaction and perfect meeting ground for principals, teachers of different schools and institutes along with the policy makers, industry and other bodies under a common platform with the students as students from different places visited the fair,” adds Mr. Lakhara.
During the fair brochure and magazine of FDDI were distributed to the students who came to visit the fair seeking career opportunities in this sector. IILF 2007 was an ideal platform to source, develop relations and exchange views for the entire global leather industry.

One-day workshop for the training and development on footwear, footwear materials was disseminated at Alert India located at G.T. Karnal Road on 7th February 2007.

A total of seven executives of the company attended it & gained knowledge on various sizing systems, its conversion from one system to another, optimization in cutting of leather, on designing, on finishing and ascertaining product prices with rationalized ways of costing.

Mrs. Prachi Sharma & Mr. Vivek Raina delivered their expertise as lectures, power point presentation, slides, and samples. Discussions regarding the process of manufacturing footwear from designing to finishing, packing & quality control, construction systems & other footwear related information was also delivered by Mrs. Prachi Sharma.

When contacted, Mr. Rajeev Lakhara, IRS, Managing Director, FDDI said, “At present, most of the people in this industry are not trained but now with this industry advancing and developing both technologically and professionally, it calls for qualified professionals to cater to the needs and requirements of the people & imparting training through this type of workshop/programme at the company's premises is a step in the right direction”.

Mr. Shashi Bhushan Shukla, IRS, Secretary, FDDI said that, “This type of workshop/programme takes care of the needs regarding the quality improvement in the products and also provides exposure of the organized market to the companies & that too onsite.”