The second 'Bangladesh Fashionology Summit 2019' will be held on May 02 to firm up the country's footings to fetch its share in the US$130 billion global smart clothing market.
Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE) will organise the day-long summit at the International Convention City Bashundhara in the city, according to a statement.
Citing Cientifica Research, it said smart clothing is the fourth industrial textile revolution, a sector that is expected to reach more than US$ 130 billion in 2025.
Bangladesh, the second largest garment exporting country, fetched $32.92 billion in last calendar year but the lion's share came from five basic items-shirt, t-shirt, trouser, denim and sweater, it added.
"The recent increase of wages and the cost of production have made it inevitable for the apparel manufacturers of the country to concentrate on value added products," said BAE founder and chief executive officer Mostafiz Uddin.
"The 130 billion dollars smart clothing market is an area we need to focus on to survive and thrive," he added.
The shift from producing basic to smart clothing will not be so easy and it has to be done gradually with proper planning and preparation, he said, adding the objective of Bangladesh Fashionololgy Summit is to facilitate the shift.
The second edition of the summit endeavors to inspire the apparel industry of Bangladesh to step into the future of fashion by bringing fashion tech leaders from across the world, the organiser said.
The Summit has already set the stage for the discussion through its first edition held on February 12 last year that focused on concepts like factory of future, virtual prototyping, fashion tech and sustainable innovation, mass customisation and demand manufacturing, they added.
The theme of this second edition of the Summit is 'Digitalisation - The Next Destination' and there will be five panel discussions.
munni_fe@yahoo.com