Shingora's Aim: To be No. 1 accessories brand

Shingora Textiles, specialists in weaving and finishing of products crafted from the finest Australian Merino, Mongolian Cashmere, Chinese Silk, Indian Mercerized Cotton and fine linen is looking to add new products to its existing line of accessories.

Also on its radar is an aggressive retail expansion plan. Amit Jain, Director, Shingora Textiles explains, “Shingora’s plan is to be the market leader in the women’s accessories the next 3-4 years. We will be launching a range, which will complement the mainline woolen products like ladies’ bags, fashion accessories, shoes and non-wool accessories.”

Jain says channel expansion will automatically be a critical focus area. With an expanded product basket, Shingora will make its presence felt through EBOs (co-owned as well as franchisees, boutiques and brand centers. “The target for the domestic branded business in three years is Rs 30 crores. We expect to grow in the next three years in the branded business at 50 per cent year-on-year. Once we cross the three year barrier, we will settle for a 15 per cent growth,” he avers.

Founded in 1986, Shingora has come a long way from being an enterprise that manufactured scarves and shawls to being the single biggest maker and exporter of scarves, shawls and throws in India. Till last year, the brand was present in just 200 retail locations but this year, it has already crossed 420 destinations. “Next year’s target is 800 and the following we should be in 1,500 outlets. This includes MBOs and large formats. We now sell Shingora in Germany, Holland, Austria, and Switzerland and looking at stepping into China and Japan. We are also looking out for a distribution within Europe for the Euro zone,” Jain says.

The sprawling 25,000 sq. mtr. unit, employs 600 people, who blend traditional skills practiced for generations through handlooms with new age state-of-the-art shuttle-less looms with electronic jumbo jacquards. It is also home to a fully equipped in-house design studio. Jain says this ensures that Shingora has the flexibility to meet the demand of buyers with high and low volume requirements while ensuring that custom designs are delivered in the shortest possible period.

Talking about the target customer, Jain says, “We create a look that’s not too ethnic and not too western, for the fashion forward woman. Even younger girls emulate good looking older women. So the Shingora woman does not wear shawls the traditional way. She wears it the way a western woman would wear it, with a western outfit.”

He sums up by saying, “The aim is to be the number one brand of fashion accessories in the Indian market with the tagline ‘Think accessories -- think Shingora’ in consumers’ minds.”