Apparel Online India Magazine August 1st Issue 2018 | Page 21

COVER STORY
Mahadev Balasubramanyam, Asst. Manager- Sales, Kishorilal Shyamsunder (Kish)
putting extra efforts on printing,
making more collection, different
variety. “We follow the market trends
very much but try to give maximum
variety in our products so that more
and more buyers can work with us.
As business is difficult, our new
segment of basic or comparatively
less value-added garments is a
support for us,” told Anupam
Maity, Senior Merchandiser of the
company. In high-value garments,
it has a capacity of 1,000 pieces per
month while for other garments, it
can produce more than 10,000 pieces
per month.
Having a strong focus on quality,
Mridu Somani, Founder, Milestone
Fashions (an SME, but 100 per cent
EOU) is of the view, “Yes, companies
like us in Kolkata are expanding but
in a different way. For them, it is not
just run-of-the-mill, they are focusing
on their individual strengths like our
strength is quality. I don’t want to
expand by quantity but by quality.”
Milestone Fashions is more than 25
years old but it has not explored the
market by participating in sourcing
exhibitions. Whatever business
it gets is by word of mouth. The
company has also previously worked
especially on prints, so now it is
enhancing its focus on export. An
optimistic Mridu states that this is
the best time for them to show their
strength. Exporting to US, Europe,
and Australia, the company offers
Mridu Somani (extreme right), Founder, Milestone Fashions with her colleagues
womenswear and resortwear.
Excelling in customisation, the
company may use different kinds of
fabrics as per the requirement of the
market.
Shagun Overseas, another 100 per
cent EOU which is catering to US,
Europe, and Japan, is also following
its fundamentals to grow as rather
than increasing capacities, the
company is giving priority to PD. An
expert in handloom scarves, this
15-year-old company has in-house
infrastructure for weaving, printing,
embroidery. “We are strict about
our core values and strengths and
are also implementing changes
which are unavoidable, so with
time, market dynamics are going
to change. With an increased
focus on product de velopment, it
is comparatively easy to grow in
business. We have enough strength
to grow with our fundamentals,”
said Vinay Killa, Proprietor of
the company. Despite being in
handloom-based scarves, Shagun
Overseas has a capacity of 6,000
pieces per month with an average
FoB of a scarf being US $ 15.
Vinay further added about
Kolkata, “The city has some
very good production strengths;
infrastructure is good enough
there, especially for the domestic
market. So with whatever way to
utilise this strength, one can easily
become more competitive. This
Industry experts
are also of the
view that reverse
migration is
happening in
Kolkata. Many of
the professionals
as well as workers
are approaching
companies as
they want to come
back and relocate
to Kolkata. The
industry does
agree that the
availability of
skilled labour
is a reason
which motivates
manufacturers
for expansion.
competitiveness can increase further
with the little support of the State
Government. The companies do
need to work on their infrastructure
(process houses, work culture
especially) and back end, some of the
companies are doing the same also.”
Between the old and established
companies, some of the new players
in Kolkata are making their space,
even growing too. Having started
with trading, just 4-year-old
GR Garments established itself
firmly in the domestic market by
having good reach in many states
through its distributors. Now it is
expanding its horizons towards
export. For this, it participated for the
first time in IIGF. Rajendra Purohit,
Director of the company informed,
“We have targeted good artists,
legends, successful personalities
across the globe and are highlighting
their quotes or views through our
garments and people are appreciating
this concept as it gives a message
too. We have improved on PD (water-
repellent garments, garments with
fragrance sustaining till seven
washes being under process) sizes,
quality to enter into exports.” With
every passing year, the company
has grown and developed its team,
following these systems which
has made Rajendra hopeful about
growing in export. At present, the
company outsources its products
from closely associated jobworkers.
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