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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai, Nov. 9 Reliance Industries is exploring the possibility of a co-branding initiative with an Italian designer for its newly re-launched brand Vimal. “A lot of the apparel sitting in our stores have and even our exports have already been inspired by some Italian designers. Now this can be consolidated further with the possibility of a co-branding initiative. There could be technical assistance provided by a collaborator in our products,” said Mr Anand Parekh, President- Textile Business, Reliance Industries.

Having re-launched its iconic brand of Vimal, adding expertise in its fabrics range by roping in Italian designers has been a recent initiative taken by the company. For instance, its most premium sub brand — Vimal Black, is inspired by Italy’s fashion designer Maurizio Bonas.

At the same time, the company is chalking out a new strategy for its furnishings brand – Harmony. “All this time we have not leveraged the Harmony brand because the Indian consumers are fickle with regard to furnishing fabrics. They are more led by colours, designs and discounts and not necessarily by the quality of the products. We are currently reviewing our furnishings brand in terms of how to build volumes into the business.” Re-evaluating the potential of its furnishings brand, the company is now reviewing it in terms of bringing in more technology-led products into this segment.

Meanwhile, the textile major is planning to expand its processing and finishing facilities for fabrics in collaboration with a player based in Western Europe. Adds Mr Parekh, “We are thinking of putting up a process house in which there could also be a collaborator. This would give us an edge in our textile business.” A greenfield facility in the area of processing and finishing in fabrics which would be captive in nature is currently being contemplated by the textile major.

“While we already have these facilities, the purpose is to have something unique and bring in expertise into these functions. In the suiting industry, experts in this area mainly come from countries in Western Europe. However, it is too early to say whether we would like to go in for a joint venture in this area, but it is an area which is lacking expertise in the men’s formal wear for wools and poly wools in India,” says Mr Parkeh.

Considering competitors like Raymonds sport almost similar processing and finishing facilities, Reliance Industries expects to get an edge in the business by roping in a collaborator.

More Stories on : Textiles | Branding | Reliance Industries Ltd

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