Uniform & Sportswear Expo 2024 Marks Third Consecutive Successful Edition
24.02.2025: Organisers Vibgyor Expositions Scored a Hat-Trick while Raising Benchmarks and Expanding the Scope of the Event Each Time, Setting Foundation for Many More to Follow. Taking a show from concept to creation requires focused efforts whereas sustaining it over a period of time requires a strong commitment as well. The Uniform & Sportswear Expo (USE) 2024, held at Hall 2, Bombay Exhibition Centre, NESCO, Goregaon (East), Mumbai from November 21-23, 2024, reflected both of these with organisers Vibgyor Expositions scoring a hat-trick while raising benchmarks and expanding the scope of the event each time, setting the foundation for many more to follow.
When the assembly elections for Maharashtra state were announced just prior to USE 2024, exhibitors and visitors had already marked their calendars and finalised travel arrangements. Concerns about restricted access to the Nehru Centre venue on the show dates for India’s leading B2B expo on the uniform & sportswear industry, coinciding with the election dates were addressed and the organisers wisely retained the event city and the dates to facilitate them, shifting only the venue to a much more easily accessible location.
The third edition, USE 2024, was noteworthy in many ways. The first, was a new co-located event, Daily Wear Expo making its debut and being held parallelly. Next, a Panel Discussion on ‘Sustainable School Uniforms: Dressing Future Generations Responsibly,’ was conducted, where representatives from different sectors including education, uniforms and garments presented their views and deliberated on the implications of the theme.
Most importantly, the ‘Top 25 School Educators in Mumbai’ Awards were then presented to some of the leading names from the field, which included senior educators, principals and senior management. Their presence at the exhibition and during the panel discussion session provided them a rare opportunity to grasp the different facets relating to sustainability and unforms and also interact with key stakeholders, ensuring a holistic approach and participation across the spectrum.
The show was inaugurated by Kavita Kerawalla, Vice-Chairperson, VIBGYOR Group of Schools and Ampersand Group; Suman Maheshwari of Gopesh Uniforms, Mumbai; Bharat Sethia of Tarun Printing Works, Mumbai, a founding member of Screenprinting & Graphics Association of India (SGAI) and Paras Jain of Rajesh Rayon.
Kavita Kerawalla is one of the better recognised academic experts and innovators in the country. With over two decades of experience in academia, she holds a deep understanding of the teaching-learning ecosystem, and a vision to transform the world using the power of education. Under her leadership, Ampersand Group’s VIBGYOR schools have expanded their presence to 15 cities, with 39 K12 schools, imparting education under multiple boards of CISCE, CIE and CBSE Boards to 50000+ students, without any compromise on the quality of education across all their branches.
The market for uniforms and sports apparel is set to grow exponentially but it needs a dedicated platform to achieve that potential. USE 2024 provided precisely that. It also offered an ideal opportunity for all stakeholders connected with these segments to interact face-to-face and reap big benefits going forward thereafter.
Recent reports have made it clear that the potential is not just within India but an opportunity to tap markets beyond borders as well. This sunrise industry has vast scope to increase its share within the apparel and textile market. There is immense potential for growth and development.
This unique platform, conceptualised with an aim to create an interactive market and an organised interface, coupled with the freedom to interact in a focused manner with the target audience, while showcasing varied products and related services in an enabling environment, fulfilled all those objectives. The third edition of India’s leading B2B expo on the uniform & sportswear industry once again witnessed impactful exhibitors interfacing with enthusiastic visitors with an emphasis on sustainability and knowledge sharing.
Visitors mostly came from the southern, western and central part of India like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh etc. and also few overseas visitors from Sri Lanka, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Sharjah, Hong Kong & Tanzania. These included dealers/ distributors of uniforms & sportswear, direct users like hotels, educational institutes, schools, sports clubs, manufacturing units, hospitals, etc.
Devang Sheth, Director, Vibgyor Exposition, shared, “Following the response to the initial two back-to-back editions of Uniform & Sportswear Expo (USE) in 2022 and 2023, we were motivated to make this third edition, the hat-trick even bigger and better. USE 2024 marked the next step of USE’s evolutionary journey as it strides forward on the path to progress. This year there were many new exhibitors from locations across India including Tirupur, Kolkata, Indore, Surat, Agra and Aurangabad in Maharashtra, thus expanding the thrust and reach of the exhibition. With this being the third edition, over the years we have been able to build up a WhatsApp numbers and Address database of the industry segment and contacts of leading players thus helping us to focus on target audience and inviting them to visit the exhibition. We are looking forward to seeing all the industry colleagues again during the next edition in 2025!”
Exhibitor Viewpoint
Sharing feedback about their experience during USE 2025, exhibitors were all praise for the organisers and the turnout.
Harish Dharamsi, Skyscreen International (P) Ltd. Mumbai, commented, “Uniforms for the field of education is a niche segment with a lot of inherent potential for growth going forward and therefore, the Uniform and Sportswear Expo (USE) 2024 was a perfect occasion for us to showcase our range for the same. We highlighted Stahls’ Heat Transfer Vinyls, GCC Cutters, which are today widely used in the t-shirt and apparel industry. At our stall, we also displayed the Ulano Textile Printing Emulsions and Chemicals, as well as Nittokku Mesh for garment and textile printing applications. We have serious buyers coming from all over India and we are expanding our reach for the end-users through such dedicated platforms with our regular participation.”
Tushar Sanghvi, Silkflex Polymers India Ltd. Kolkata, said, “We are one of the leading players in textile printing inks & chemicals in India and we have few products and inks for sportswear segment, which we highlighted at the third edition of the Uniform and Sportswear Expo (USE) 2024. It was a unique opportunity to interact the uniform and sportwear manufacturers coming from all over India. We also got a good learning as to what are the industry dynamics and how it is moving. The event was also an ideal platform provided at the right time to promote our textile printing inks. It was a good opportunity and a pleasant business experience. The presence of Mumbai’s Top Educators who were especially invited to attend the Panel Discussion on ‘Sustainable School Uniforms: Dressing Future Generations Responsibly,’ made eye-opening session even more significant.”
Shailendra Gupta, Director, R. K. Sewing Machines, Mumbai, said “Uniform and Sportswear Expo is a unique platform catering to the needs of and services for all the segments of uniform and sportswear industries sourcing requirements from raw material to finish end products at one platform. We, as R. K. Sewing Machines, Mumbai has always been supportive with our SERA brand technology to introduce with our latest and advance sewing machine with perfect guidance and support. This expo was professionally managed and trade visitors were coming from various parts of western and southern India.”
Amar Gupta, CEO, Uniform Solutions, Mumbai, expressed, “The expo was well organized. The panel discussion on Sustainability in School Uniforms was insightful with vendors and principals opining to address a crucial issue. We enlisted two new vendors. Devang Sheth and his team were very helpful and ensured that all our needs were addressed.”
Siddhuraj, Vasit Prints, Tirupur, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity to explore the market and showcase our HD transfer stickers and speciality prints. USE 2024 proved to be a very good platform to move forward to next level. We are also happy by interacting with customers from different regions of the country. Today we are having more than 250 satisfied customers in India and abroad who appreciate our quality and services.”
Dhaval Tejani, Sumiro Trends, Surat, said, “It was a good experience for us to participate in a trade show and exhibit the range of our company. We received very good response from visitors coming from various parts of India. We started our business in the year 2019 and Sumiro Trends is a leading manufacturer of a wide range of sportswear, like men’s sport t-shirts, track pants, etc. Participation at expo helped us to create more awareness about our products and meeting with new clients and also understanding requirements of the ever-changing consumer and sportswear industry.”
Dhruv Shah, Vimla Prints, Surat, emphasised, “We had a fantastic experience at the exhibition! The event was well-organized, and we received an excellent response from visitors who appreciated our collection. The support from the organizing team was commendable, making everything smooth and efficient. Thank you for providing such a great platform to showcase our products. Looking forward to the next one!”
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