Shingora plans to open EBOs in Tier II towns

Shingora, is known for its shawls and line of pocket squares to scarves for men and scarves, squares, neck scarves and stoles for women. Talking about the demand and growth scenario in shawls, Amit Jain, President, Shingora says, “Our year on year growth is about 15 percent. Women’s category dominates and children’s as well as men’s category contribute about 10 to 12 percent.”

Innovations for festive/winter season

The need for fashionable clothing to help manage frequent weather changes has led to the rise in demand for shawls. With an aim to provide premium and trendy fashion in wraps, Shingora’s A/W ‘15 range includes new styles such as Fireworks, Egyptian Goddess, Earthern Ombre , Butterscotch Breeze, Wild & Blue and Myraid Ripples.

Shingora makes regular investments in technological upgradation of looms, yarn dyeing, print machinery and effluent treatments to improve product quality and exceed international standards. “70 x 200 centimeters is the most common size in shawls. We have also started offering new skinny widths of 50 and 30 centimeters in keeping with petite fit for Indian customers and international trends. We also do indigo dyeing on wool. We have developed new lightweight and blended fabrics. Fabrics are blends of cashmere, silk, modal and wool. For colours we normally follow international trends,” informs Jain.

Jain feels, innovation is rather low in India. “Customer is ready to pay for innovative products. In fact, our expensive products sell the most. That clearly reveals customers doesn’t care about price but players are competing with each other to reduce prices. And a fashion product becomes a commodity.”

Plans EBOs in Tier II cities

Jain is positive about the growth of shawls category. “It is about finding the right channel. Our brand is in MBOs and online. Later this year we will open EBOs in five locations, mostly Tier II towns of north India. These EBOs will offer shawls, scarves and stoles,” says Jain.

Shingora main competitors are the unorganised market. Jain says, almost 90 percent of Indian shawl industry is unorganised and there are very few brands that specialise in shawls. “But brands like us are trying to put things on a better footing. We want to drive the business in a more organised direction. We are the first company to have introduced MRP in the shawl business and set up stores specifically for shawls and scarves,” he exclaims.