Kidswear (apparel for children of the age group of 0-16 years) in India is considered to be in its nascent stage at present. Little has been done in the domestic kidswear business, in terms of sizing and fit. The very fact that no standard Anthropometric study has been conducted till date for the Indian children, clearly suggests that the sizing systems and grading parameters followed by the kidswear brands, have been borrowed from those of the European and US markets. This has resulted in a multitude of sizing problems. Absence of standardized labeling and sizing techniques creates a lot of confusion amongst customers regarding the correct size to be purchased for their children.
Hence, there is a requirement for planned thinking and action in this direction, as well as, extensive research in this field, in order to standardize the sizing system for the Indian mass market and thereby establish a benchmark for the existing and upcoming kidswear brands.
There should be a critical analysis of the existing sizing systems followed by kidswear brands in the country with respect to customer preferences and common fit problems encountered by children of different age groups, which can serve as a pre-requisite for devising a size set and measurement specifications for apparel, suiting the requirements of the Indian children and widening the customer base.
There are glaring differences in the sizing of certain brands, for some measurements like the length of the tops, neckline circumference, shoulder in tops and waist, hip, front rise and back rise in bottoms. Incidentally, these areas also turn out to be some of the major fit problem areas of kidswear, as per certain customer survey conducted in the past.
Hence, necessary changes in the measurements should be incorporated and a modified size set for kidswear should be prepared. The sizes and measurement specifications can only be validated by making samples accordingly and conducting fit trials on children of the various age groups. These fit trials will finally enable us in fine tuning the size set.
However, there is another aspect to this entire exercise of standardization of sizes which most of us tend to overlook. On one hand where standardization helps in reducing several complications related to production, it leaves, on the other hand, a serious dearth of choices to the consumers. As a matter of fact, it is this variation in the sizes across the brands that offer a broad spectrum of choices to consumers. One cannot deny the fact that there exists a huge variation in the body form of children, not only amongst different age-groups, but also within a particular age. Standardizing sizes in a country like India which is an abode to numerous races and ethnic groups, remains a far cry. Also, it can not be justified to create a standard for all brands and thus curtailing the number of choices for the customer or the children whose stature does not fall in the standard norms stated.
Hence, it is not only difficult but also impractical to have standard sized apparel for a particular age.
Thus, the focus should be on identifying the fit problems encountered by the majority of children in a particular age group and thereby making adjustments in the existing pattern system. Any Anthropometric study conducted should also be directed in the same way, so as to identify the differences in the growth pattern of Indian children, rather than making an attempt to standardize the sizes for such a vast country.