H2F
CURTAINS TAKE A NEW MARKET LEAP WITH INCREASING DEMAND FOR NATURAL HUES
Indian home furnishing industry keeps pace with the latest trends in the market in order to gain a competitive edge . Curtains , one of the core products of the Indian home furnishing industry and quite in demand in the overseas market , have been the mainstay for many Indian exporters . With the rapidly evolving lifestyles , there has been a significant change in the patterns , designs , colour schemes and fabrics of curtains . As in the case of other segments , the major buyers of Made-in India curtains are EU and US , but recently-Middle East countries , Israel and Australia are also emerging as strong buyer bases . Team AO met with some of the dynamic players of the industry from both the buying and manufacturing side to understand more about the ongoing developments in the domain of curtains .
For curtains , patterns and fabrics are the most important aspects which lead the market . In the current scenario , hand-made curtains in printed as well as embroidery form are getting good response , whereas natural colours , solid linen , geometrical patterns are trending . Polyester , every variety of cotton , linen and silk are the fabrics having maximum demand in the global market , whereas for few companies , the new generation of their clientele are turning their heads towards venetian blind .
EXPORTER VIEWS
Priva International , a Jaipur-based company , which deals extensively in home furnishings , is one of the most popular names in the overseas market for its extensive product range in curtains . The 15-year-old company is not only manufacturing curtains but also updating itself as per the changing customer needs to maintain its market hold .
Pankaj Karwa , CEO of the company shared , “ At present hand-made curtains are more into demand , whether printed or embroidery made from pure cotton . But if we talk about colours , then there has been a huge change taking place in the industry . Earlier people used to prefer brighter colours , but now they are moving towards subtler colour schemes , like white , off-white , grey and some hues of blue .” He further added that curtains are seasonal and people change it over with time as per their needs . Pankaj also stated that his company has a unique procedure through which they study and analyse the existing market demands thoroughly . According to him , 80 per cent of the total production of Priva International goes to Europe , Latin America , Australia , New Zealand , Japan and African countries .
Another potential player of the industry which is into the market from last 25 years and covers the entire home furnishing range is Sundram Hastkala , a Ghaziabad based company , catering majorly to the Gulf countries , the European and Japanese markets on a large scale . Kamal Bhatnagar , Director of the organization specified , “ Home furnishing industry is going through a hard time . So the buyers are now moving towards value-added products , which are satisfactory at quality level as well as cost level . Nowadays people are not buying linen and silk curtains which we used to do earlier , back in 1997 , and until 2012 . At that time , we manufactured and exported silk curtains on a broader level . That was the period when industry was able to pay the price for expensive stuffs as well , but now we are only concentrating on cotton and polyester products to fulfil the market needs .”
Adding to his views further , Kamal said , “ Curtains are very important segments of the home furnishing industry and for us as well . As per the current market trend , neutral colours in curtains are more into the market if we talk about trending patterns , then bold checks and stripes , followed by trellis , triangular designs capturing a significant portion in the global market . Apart from these , jacquard and geometrical shapes with modern motives are taking over the industry . On the fabric front , the Director of the company said that cotton and polyester mix are the most required ones due to their cost-effectiveness .
Woodson Impex , a Delhi-based home furnishing company which is a pioneer in crewel work , a special kind of hand embroidery which was earlier done only with wool because it is the traditional work of Kashmir , is now being made through different types of threads . Arif Kamal , Founder of the company stated ,
34 Apparel Online India | JULY 1-15 , 2017 | www . apparelresources . com