The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Mumbai, hosted a promotional event on 8th January 2025 at Nishta Bhavan, Churchgate, Mumbai, to spotlight VisionNxt, India’s first AI and EI-driven fashion forecasting platform.

VisioNxt प्रयोगशाला, an initiative of NIFT, supported by Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, focuses  on providing ground-breaking research and trend insights for India's fashion and retail market. It also offers various academic courses, workshops, and trend-related consulting services.

Prof. Dr. Sharmila J. Dua, Director of NIFT Mumbai, emphasized VisionNxt's transformative role in shaping the future of the Indian fashion industry. She highlighted its flagship bilingual trend book, Paridhi 24x25, and the Indigenous AI deep learning model that underpins the platform. She mentioned "Through collaborative research and innovation, VisionNxt empowers the industry with data-driven insights while celebrating India’s unique fashion identity".

Textile Commissioner Ms. Roop Rashi emphasized that the platform’s innovative approach democratizes trend forecasting, providing Indian designers, weavers, and small-scale artisans with affordable access to global and localized trends. "With over 20,000 downloads already, VisionNxt exemplifies how AI can bridge traditional craftsmanship with modern market needs, fostering sustainable growth and elevating India’s cultural identity on a global scale," she said. She highlighted the use of advanced tools like AI-based image recognition and predictive analytics that analyze consumer behaviour, age group preferences, and emerging design patterns.

As per NIFT Mumbai, since its official launch in September 2024, VisionNxt has garnered significant attention, attracting over 23,000 visitors to its website and inspiring widespread industry and academic engagement. Beyond fashion forecasting, the platform supports the industry by predicting consumer preferences, analyzing data trends, and offering actionable insights for businesses, designers, and artisans. India’s entry into the trend forecasting space brings several advantages: it reduces reliance on global forecasting agencies, offers unique insights into Indian fashion consumers, integrates India’s strengths in information technology with textiles, and merges artificial and human intelligence.

To date, VisioNxt has delivered over 60 fashion micro trend reports, more than 10 close-to-season trend reports, 3+ research papers, an e-magazine, a youth trend report, a mind-set book, and India’s first-ever AI Taxonomy book on 75 Indian wear categories.

This initiative also created a comprehensive dataset of over 70,000 primary apparel images and more than 280,000 secondary images to identify patterns in key apparel attributes like style, colour, and regional influences. 'VisioNxt प्रयोगशाला', an ethically certified initiative, has trained over 800 students in trend spotting and empowered them by involving them in VisioNxt's data collection system.

VisionXT brings value to every stakeholder in the fashion ecosystem:

•              For Designers: It ensures their ideas translate into production without losing the essence of Indian aesthetics.

•              For Machinists: It provides clear, detailed instructions tailored to their craft, bridging the gap between creativity and execution.

•              For Businesses: It saves time, reduces errors, and enhances efficiency, making Indian fashion more competitive globally."

About VisionXT:

By combining artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence (EI), VisioNxt has developed an indigenous forecasting system that caters specifically to the unique dynamics of the Indian market. Its core mission is to map the diversity and complexity of India’s fashion landscape, empowering businesses, designers, brands, retailers, artisans, and weavers to anticipate and respond to the evolving needs of the Indian consumer. Visionxt Fashion Forecasting enlightened the visitors in the principles, methodologies, and various tools used to predict future trends in the fashion industry in the context of Indian Fashion and style.

VisionXT sets itself apart by creating an India-specific AI taxonomy, trained on over 1.5 lakh images and tagged with terms unique to Indian fashion, gathered by a team of 800+ NIFT students. This enables the system to achieve over 86% accuracy in distinguishing between culturally significant garments like Benarasi sarees and Kanjeevaram sarees, or lehengas and skirts, providing precise and contextually relevant insights tailored to the Indian fashion industry.

VisioNxt positions India as a global leader in trend forecasting, enhancing the visibility of Indian fashion language and identity while reducing reliance on international trend agencies. For any more information on this project, please visit the website: visionxt.in.