Neva to launch ‘Live Free’ brand in January

Neva Garments, which was recently honored with the ‘Best Medium Enterprise’ at the D&B-Axis Bank Business Gaurav SME Awards 2011 held in Mumbai, is targeting an annual growth of 25 to 30 per cent in the next couple of years.

The brand achieved Rs 100 crores revenues this year. Commenting on the success of Neva in India, Vishal Jain, Executive Director and CEO, “Neva continues to hold the flag for introducing warm cotton thermals to India. It’s replacing the woolen ones with CPS technology, an innovation in itself which has been achieved after intense and thorough R&D in-house. The revolutionary concept of quilting highly insulated polyfil yarn between two layers of Cotton Modal and Cotton makes the thermal lighter and warmer.”

Sensing the changes the market is undergoing and anticipating future selling trends, Neva has strategically decided to foray into large format stores and MBOs. As the product portfolio is increasing rapidly, the company is considering showcasing the range in MBOs through a special counter and at all leading stores like Pantaloon, Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop and Reliance Trends.

Commenting on the company’s retail strategy, Jain explains, “Neva now plans to foray into EBO’s. After initial response from factory outlets in Ludhiana, now Neva is venturing into other cities of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, J & K, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and U.P. It is entering into retail showrooms through either self-managed or franchisee model. It also has plans to open 25 new stores before winter in Tier II cities. We are also interested in export markets like Dubai and Nepal, where we already enjoy some presence.”

Neva thermal wear was introduced in India at a time when people wore a lot of thick, heavy material inside woolen sweaters or pure wool stuff to ward off cold, while they were looking for something lightweight, durable and easy to wash. Pure wool needed to be dry cleaned and the material wasn’t soft on the body. “So we decided to introduce thermals having quilted two layers of cotton with a layer of polyfil in between. The knit was such that the structure created air capsules which retain body heat and doesn’t let outside air come in,” elaborates Jain.

Their thermals have been certified as being even better than woolen thermals. The brand introduced summer wear and inner wear and then we added active wear its range. “We segmented our line. After initially launching a seasonal product, we went into summer innerwear and lingerie of premium international quality with Indian price and value added functional fabrics,” he adds.

For the current winter season, Neva has come out with India’s first modal-based thermals. It’s a blend of cotton modal with an excellent hand feel and better moisture absorption. Under the thermal range it already has labels like Neva Ozone, Neva Essensia and Neva Mod Quilt. “In January 2012, we are coming out with fashion T-shirts for men under the brand Live Free. The range will have collars, round necks, stripers in new fabrics inspired from the themes of human beings and a way of living,” Jain says.