What is the PURPOSE of A uniform? WHY SHOULD STUDENTS WEAR IT?

What is the purpose of a uniform and why should the students wear the uniforms to school?

 

When we were young, we secretly wished that the uniforms we wore to school could be more fun and less monotonous!

Yes, they are important and have proven to be an effective tool to level out the socio-economic standards of society, which is why they have been in existence for so many decades now.

 

Students wearing good quality and well-styled uniforms surely result in confidence and an image boost, thereby improving their overall presentation and performance.

School dress codes should not only be comfortable but also be able to enhance their personalities.

 

Uniforms should not be controlled and regulated by stereotypical notions governing how children dress up.

Unfortunately, this huge school uniform industry in India is lagging compared to its contemporaries.

 

It’s common knowledge that India grows, spins, weaves and exports some of the best cotton apparel to the world and is a leading producer of cotton worldwide.

So one wonders, why the kids in India are wearing polyester uniforms? That too in a tropical country where the temperature soars even up to 45 degrees in summer??!!

 

Owing to the growing exposure and the increased influence of social media, students are aware of the latest trends and technological advancements in clothing and their brands. They aspire to wear good quality clothing in look and feel to the school.

 

After all, they do spend one-third of their lives i.e… 6 to 8 hours of the day in their school kit. They really should be wearing the best garments in quality and style as their uniforms ….. much like the brand ambassadors of their school. …..something to remember fondly and proudly even when they graduate, the remaining memory for a lifetime. It is such an important piece of their everyday life.

 

Unfortunately, this is not the current scenario….

Most of them are embarrassed about the inferior quality, cut and sewing of their school dresses.

 

The school uniform industry is on the brink of a revolution and uniforms can effectively be used to transform a utility garment, into a sophisticated and evolved space of design, aesthetics, gender sensitivity and sustainability.

 

I believe that uniform is an important aspect of how the students perceive and interact with the world around them, and how they express and present themselves to the world. Uniform plays an important role in developing their self-image and are part of the holistic development process.

Their joy lies in wearing well-designed, supreme quality and well-styled uniforms that form part of the school’s brand and child’s identity. To add value to the uniforms by being comfortable, sustainable and able to promote a positive self-image.

 

One such company that is driving the change in India is Reinvent Uniforms Pvt Ltd. The founder’s very simple story of the pain of a mother seeing her toddlers wearing the worst of the uniforms to school to come back with acute skin rashes all over the sensitive skins of the young children, not to mention the stink of the sweat which is unbearable.

What started as a humble offering of natural fabric to the schools led to the designing and manufacturing of quality uniforms.

 

In their drive for sustainability, Reinvent relies heavily on natural blend products with strict adherence to quality norms laid out by the International Textile Federations. They believe in bringing back natural products into school uniforms, especially in a tropical country.

To evolve post the recent pandemic which resulted in the surge of online buying that led to the creation of their patent online sizing tools.

 

Schools are now breaking away from the age-old, typecast, legacy-owned uniform vendors who are mostly either just fabric traders or garment converters, this constitutes the bulk of the traders. The uniform suppliers are quite conservative and unimaginative and probably even complacent in carrying on this business for years in the same old way which is why the quantum of the industry is growing year on year, but the quality is constantly receding.

 

Schools should invest some time and effort to realize and acknowledge the shortcomings of today’s uniforms.

Most of us have kids and I am sure everyone agrees to reinvent the otherwise dull, boring and inferior quality of uniforms into a contemporary and trendy ensemble like never before.

 

 

As a part of our service product offering, we double down as Image consultants for the school and uniforms. Hence all Private K-12 schools (Over 10,00,000 schools) in the mid to high income who are seeking to brand their vision and create a specific image for their institution through uniforms. The total addressable market is all public and private schools and with our retail offering in the future, we hope to go beyond schools altogether. Currently the higher income i.e. the International, IB/Cambridge syllabus schools are buying from us. We also have school chains as they get the uniformity they desire considering the socio-economic and cultural diversity coupled with the varied climatic conditions pan India.

 

 

The journey from “Just Another School Uniform?” to “Wow, this is Uniform?” should be a mission statement for every education institute to address and update in the otherwise ignored industry.