INDIAsize - Planning and Execution of National Sizing Survey of India

Abstract

Research studies conducted on fit and human-body measurements across the globe indicates that a large percentage of consumers face difficulty in finding clothes that fit them perfectly according to their body shapes and sizes. The overarching reason is differences in anthropometric built of people from one region to another. This has led countries to undertake national sizing surveys to create anthropometric database of measurements which is a true representation of the entire population, to cater to their respective retail industry. The size charts and insights generated through these surveys and corresponding analysis has helped the garment industry to provide well-fitting garments designed as per the body structure of the native population. India is facing the same dilemma. The Indian apparel industry uses size charts which are largely tweaked versions of size charts of other countries and are created more out of the manufacturer's instinct and experience than a proven scientific study, resulting in fits which leave lot to desire. Projected returns of the garments are in the range of 30% to 40% (and is increasing with the growth of ecommerce) and the major reason for the returns are poor garment fit. Providing well-fitting garments in the absence of standardized size chart is proving to be a big challenge for the domestic textile and apparel industry in India Hence, India is undertaking its own anthropometric survey-INDIAsize, to develop standard body sizes for Indian apparel sector to address the prevailing disparities and inconsistencies in apparel sizing systems and provided fits. INDIAsize targets at collecting anthropometric data from representative Indian population, of youth, adult and elderly, calculated basis stratified sampling of Census data of India. Data is being collected from various demographics of age, region, sex, income and community (rural &urban) using non-contact, human safe 3D whole body scanning technology. More than 25000 (Twenty-Five Thousand) male and female persons between the age group of 15 years and 65 years are being scanned in six major cities located in six regions of India i.e., New Delhi (North Region), Chennai (South Region), Kolkata (East Region), Mumbai (West Region), Hyderabad (Central Region), and Shillong (North-East Region). The anthropometric data on more than 120 anthropometric points are being extracted in two postures i.e., Sitting and standing from the participants of the survey. The survey is guided by various ISO protocols of 8559, 7250, 20685 etc. The survey will create Size identification number for a customer through mapping, categorization and defining of their body shape and size. This indigenous body size chart thus created will help national and international retailers and manufacturers to produce goods which are best suited for Indian body types and create a balance between demand and supply of well fitted clothes. The paper shares the details of planning this large-scale survey and data collected so far.

Desarrollo de modelos estadísticos de predicción del ajuste y talla de prendas de ropa a partir de la percepción y características antropométricas del usuario

“…Se han realizado estudios antropométricos 3D a gran escala en muchos países, siendo los más relevantes los realizados en EEUU (Ng et al, 2007), Francia (Kennedy, 2008), Alemania (Seidl et al, 2009), Tailandia (Charoensiriwath & Tanprasert, 2010), Corea del sur (Han et al, 2010;Lim & Park, 2011;Y. S. Lee, 2013), India (Anand & Tiwari, 2022;Kulkarni et al, 2011), Japón (HQL (Research Institute of Human Engineering for Quality Life), 2008), España (Alemany et al, 2010), Bélgica (Cools et al, 2014), México (Istook & Hwang, 2001), Romania (Olaru et al, 2011), Brasil (Bastos & Cetiqt, 2014), Italia (Stampfli et al, 2012), Portugal (Ramôa, A.F. et al, 2018) y China (Zhao et al, 2019) (Tabla 3).…”