Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, has developed standard size charts for Indian consumers based on the body structure of Indians. The institute completed the project after studying sample size of 1,500 people in the age group of 18- 26 years out of which 1,000 were women and 500 were men. Dr. Deepti Gupta who carried out the research, analysed about 29 measurements for men and 35 measurements for women.
The process of research was started around five years back through projects given to M. Tech and B. Tech students. The project has already generated considerable curiosity in the industry and the institute is receiving a lot of enquiries for it. “After the research, we realised that no designer or garment manufacturer would have been able to do it as the research is based on technical mathematical calculations, which only a research institute is geared to do,” said Dr. Deepti Gupta.
The results were attained after taking into account measurement protocols based on American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) that maintains more than 12,000 standards and Size Finder, a software used for body mapping that works on mathematical calculations based on complex percentiles. The size charts will help in understanding the demands for different sizes and will meet the requirements for perfect fit in the Indian market. Nomenclature of the sizes may differ across the brands based on the target population.
Currently, the institute is busy in consolidating and making the results ready for transfer in a different format which will make it easier for the users to understand. “The process of verifying the results is in process and we will be satisfied only when the charts will be used on shop floor,” added Gupta.
