Indian home furnishing industry keeps pace with the latest trends in the market in order to gain a competitive edge. Curtains, one of the core products of the Indian home furnishing industry and quite in demand in the overseas market, have been the mainstay for many Indian exporters. With the rapidly evolving lifestyles, there has been a significant change in the patterns, designs, colour schemes and fabrics of curtains. As in the case of other segments, the major buyers of Made-in India curtains are EU and US, but recently-Middle East countries, Israel and Australia are also emerging as strong buyer bases. Team AO met with some of the dynamic players of the industry from both the buying and manufacturing side to understand more about the ongoing developments in the domain of curtains.
For curtains, patterns and fabrics are the most important aspects which lead the market. In the current scenario, hand-made curtains in printed as well as embroidery form are getting good response, whereas natural colours, solid linen, geometrical patterns are trending. Polyester, every variety of cotton, linen and silk are the fabrics having maximum demand in the global market, whereas for few companies, the new generation of their clientele are turning their heads towards venetian blind.
Exporter Views
Priva International, a Jaipur-based company, which deals extensively in home furnishings, is one of the most popular names in the overseas market for its extensive product range in curtains. The 15-year-old company is not only manufacturing curtains but also updating itself as per the changing customer needs to maintain its market hold.
Pankaj Karwa, CEO of the company shared, “At present hand-made curtains are more into demand, whether printed or embroidery made from pure cotton. But if we talk about colours, then there has been a huge change taking place in the industry. Earlier people used to prefer brighter colours, but now they are moving towards subtler colour schemes, like white, off-white, grey and some hues of blue.” He further added that curtains are seasonal and people change it over with time as per their needs. Pankaj also stated that his company has a unique procedure through which they study and analyse the existing market demands thoroughly. According to him, 80 per cent of the total production of Priva International goes to Europe, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and African countries.
Another potential player of the industry which is into the market from last 25 years and covers the entire home furnishing range is Sundram Hastkala, a Ghaziabad based company, catering majorly to the Gulf countries, the European and Japanese markets on a large scale. Kamal Bhatnagar, Director of the organization specified, “Home furnishing industry is going through a hard time. So the buyers are now moving towards value-added products, which are satisfactory at quality level as well as cost level. Nowadays people are not buying linen and silk curtains which we used to do earlier, back in 1997, and until 2012. At that time, we manufactured and exported silk curtains on a broader level. That was the period when industry was able to pay the price for expensive stuffs as well, but now we are only concentrating on cotton and polyester products to fulfil the market needs.”
Adding to his views further, Kamal said, “Curtains are very important segments of the home furnishing industry and for us as well. As per the current market trend, neutral colours in curtains are more into the market if we talk about trending patterns, then bold checks and stripes, followed by trellis, triangular designs capturing a significant portion in the global market. Apart from these, jacquard and geometrical shapes with modern motives are taking over the industry. On the fabric front, the Director of the company said that cotton and polyester mix are the most required ones due to their cost-effectiveness.
Woodson Impex, a Delhi-based home furnishing company which is a pioneer in crewel work, a special kind of hand embroidery which was earlier done only with wool because it is the traditional work of Kashmir, is now being made through different types of threads. Arif Kamal, Founder of the company stated, “We are making a niche product range as we want to have a smaller but a niche clientele in the industry. Not everyone in the market can provide the buyers what we are giving them. When we talk about top trends, updates and fashion, then I always say that whatever the trend will be, crewel will always remain as the in-thing. So, curtains with crewel embroidery are much in demand, as they are considered as ‘evergreen’ fashion. But yes, according to time, the colour, patterns, preferences in the fabrics selections keep changing.” Currently, in crewel work too, there are variations in terms of colour selections, like now people are looking for more subtle colours in base and crewel work with bright colours trending. Beside this, khaki, natural linen colour, shades of white and off-white, different shades of blues, grey are in vogue.
Additionally, the new generation is moving more towards venetian blinds just because of its new look and reasonable cost. Full-size curtains with crewel embroidery cost quite high in comparison to a venetian blind – a small piece of curtain which is nowadays making its place in the new homes. “Well, key fabrics for our clients are silk, organdy, cotton and linen,” he added. The two-decade old company which has its expertise in crewel, manufactures almost all types of curtains, bedding, cushions, and covers the European and US markets extensively.
Diamond Exports, a 42 years old company which is based in Panipat, is one of the prospective exporters in home furnishing industry. The trailblazer company is supplying predominantly to the European countries, UK, US, Gulf countries, Japan, Australia and other important parts of the globe. Ramesh Verma, CEO of the company, sharing his experience said, “Chemary, a variant of cotton, is in trend. Beside this, linen solids and silk are also in fashion. Patterns, solid and geometrical shapes are doing well. However, colours for the curtains always remain the same like beige, white, cream, off-white, grey and some more delicate hues which work for US and European countries, including Japan. But as always, in the Gulf region, people stick to the shiny and darker shades, such as golden, silver and other shimmering tones.
“Colour blocks, large botanical motifs, metallic and digital print curtains are grabbing more attention from overseas buyers. Woven texture, basket weave, sheers and velvet fabrics are very much in trend.” – Lalit Mittal, Director, Mittal International, Panipat
Buyers’ views
TQM Global Buying, a nine years old sourcing agency, based out in Noida region and dealing in the entire range of home furnishings, has the detailed update about the industry trends in the international market. Sanjeev Jain, CEO, TQM Buying Agency revealed, “Curtain exports from India have been always high in demand. However there has been a shift in trends, designs, patterns, colours, etc. during the past few years. Earlier polyester curtains were high in demand but lately due to emergence of China as a major player in polyester, India is no longer competitive nor is it the buyers’ choice for polyester and hence this business has moved mostly to China and other countries.”
Moreover, Sanjeev observes that the buying pattern in India for curtains has changed radically as the market is now looking for more natural shades. As far as fabric is concerned, cotton, linen and other natural fabrics are the dominating ones. But yes, one thing which has remained unchanged is printed curtains. “You can still see these curtains with prominent players in the market having altered and improved prints, patterns and colourways,” he adds.
Sanjeev also informs that silk curtains which were initiated by Target, JCPenney, Walmart and BBB last year, and were doing well in the market are now getting low response; besides cotton is back for these retailers too. Textured and linen-look cottons are in high demand. Yarn dyed curtains in stripes and checks coordinating with other bedroom décor like cushions, floor rugs, table linen, etc., are being produced and shipped by suppliers down south. Apart from this, denim is also coming back with different washes in fashion. Slub yarns of natural fibres are being used more in curtains fabrics. “If I divide them according to the countries, then UK prefers to buy curtains with some value additions on the top and bottom of the panels by adding different treatments or techniques, whereas the European countries like France, Sweden, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland prefer the dull look and also other earthen colours. They are also demanding for raw finish, textured look fabrics,” he remarked. South Africa, TQM’s prominent market, still prefers polyester curtains over cottons, designs like damask, tropical, floral, whereas, geometrical, animal prints are no longer in demand. Ivory, beige and gold are always rich look colours in curtains worldwide.
Jaspal Dehal, Director, Majestic Global Services, Ghaziabad shared, “As far as curtains are concerned, trends vary from market to market. Preference of the people varies greatly in different countries. Also, like most of the other home textiles items, for curtains, buying for a particular season of the year is also very important. Colours are chosen accordingly. If I talk about designs and patterns, then geometric patterns and textures are in and florals are out. Even for basic or promotional categories of curtains, clients prefer to have some textures rather than going for plain basic fabric.” The buying house started back in 2004 and is now covering majorly 4 countries, including Germany, Australia and Switzerland.
Strategic Sourcing Solutions (3S) is a 15-year-old, Noida-based sourcing house which is dealing into home furnishings only and catering to Israel, Switzerland, Germany, US, Netherlands and France. Deepak Gaba, Founder, 3S discussed about the recent market trends in curtains segment and said, “Textiles section is moving more towards natural palettes, consumers are looking for products which are classic, environment-conscious and has ‘Nature’ as a strong theme. Trend forward customers are also looking at bohemian influences in curtains; linen and cotton are also in large demand.”
