Founded in 2016 by Mr. Vijay Sharma, Mr. Anupam Deo Arya and Mr. Sandeep Sharma, Fabriclore, which literally means ‘stories of fabrics’, is an online brand that aims to revive India’s use of both traditional and modern fabrics by delivering premium curated fabrics.
India is among the world’s largest producers of textiles, and yet the textile industry is a largely unorganised sector in the country. Other than the suiting and shirting segment, alarge segment of the industry is still fragmented. There is no easy accessibility or standardisation of what is being produced across India, in both native Indian crafts andmodern digital or embellished fabrics.
However, things are changing now, in this new era of digitisation, post the pandemic world. Joining the wagon is Jaipur-based Fabriclore, an online brand that aims to reviveIndia’s use of both traditional and modern fabrics by delivering curated fabrics.Fabriclore is a blend of traditional and modern design materials, where each piece of fabric is assembled with utmost mindfulness and precision. The fabrics are sourced frommasters of traditional craft and even traditional keepers, making them an ideal value formoney for connoisseurs of design and fabrics. The brand works in close collaboration withdesigners to co-create spectacular classical and fusion designs, in both clothing and home furnishing.
Anupam Deo Arya, VP Marketing and Communication, Fabriclore conveyed in an exclusive interview to the Textile Value Chain about the birth and growth of Fabriclore. Excerpts:
You have created a novel niche in fabric business. How did this happen?
I never had an agenda to start a business in fabrics or textiles as I was inexperienced, though somewhere inside, I always yearned to be a part of a consumer design-oriented project. So, it was a mere stroke of luck. My partners and I realized the demand for fabrics in the market was not being fulfilled. Hence, after plunging into the segment deeper, we were surprised to be acquainted with the variety of fabrics available! This is how we hatched theidea of starting a business in the same field.
What are the various segments covered under Fabriclore& marketing tactics?
- Boutique Circle- An all-integrated digital platform to connect consumers with regionaldesigners & boutiques.
- END-TO-END Fabric & Design Ecosystem
- Project roots: An exclusive initiative to bring together authentic crafts, sustainable processes, modern design thought & academia.
- Wholesale and Made to order
How’s the production and raw material requirements taken care of?
Our production is managed by the network of artisans and manufacturers spread across India in 14 states which is further managed by our inhouse team of textile designers and merchandisers. Moreover, we use our internal software to track and maintain the progress across India.
Moving on to raw materials, we do have a stock of raw materials and our inhouse team experiments on them with a lots of art. We make sure to do sampling first and then distribute them to the artisans. We do not engage on leaving the choice on themanufacturer rather we have grey fabric to experiment. Our great deal of investment is in sampling part.
If in export, what are the various achievements in the markets?
Our achievement in the international market is that we have been able to work with lot of individual designers and developed some really niche products with the combination of printing, weaving and fabric.We have been able to create the largest catalogue of fabrics accessible globally even in small yardages.
How far have your moved up in digitalisation?
We are a digital first platform and emphasise on exceptional visual experience, that is highly detailed, transparent, diverse and design centric. Add to that is our content marketing ecosystem. Anyone visiting us digitally get access to a full spectrum of content, fabric knowledge wiki, workshops, styling inspiration, and FAQ videos across all major social media channels. We also organise interactive sessions and quizzes, as a result of which, our company has a great following on social media.
Our next step of digitisation is to bring designers and boutiques under single platform covering the entire loop of fabric to garment making.
What are the plans for the future? Any diversification?
One of the plans is to focus on the entire spectrum of fabric buyer categories from consumer to the enterprise level apparel manufacturers.
Another plan is the vertical integration of boutiques/ designers within our system.
How does your competition fare?
Fabriclore’s competition is mainly from standalone suppliers at the regional level and some modern retailers focused on fabrics. Online horizontal marketplaces like Amazon and vertical players like iTokri and Jaypore also sell fabrics but are not fully into making a comprehensive ecosystem. International players like Joann Fabric and Mood Fabric are something we constantly keep an eye on.
What is your wish-list for the Government & the textile industry to tackle future challenges?
Tax rationalisation across the value chain of garment industry is the biggest need of the hour. The legacy tax regimes have accumulated pile of GST input credit which is absolutely useless for us. There must be mechanisms for us to use this input credit in any financial instrument.As the industry is moving more towards digital economy, use of digital products or software or advertising platforms have been quintessential. However, they are heavily taxed. Government shall encourage use of such services/products by reducing tax.
