Cushion covers were the dominating product on display in the home textile segment at the recently concluded 38th edition of IHGF Delhi Fair, autumn edition held at Greater Noida. Organized by EPCH (Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts) there were more than 300 companies displaying cushions along with a little of bed covers, curtains, tables clothes, quilts etc. Most of the manufacturers used 100 per cent cotton, velvet and felt fabrics; however a few were claiming to have experimented with fresh concepts in slub, duck and linen as well as jute fabric. It was good to see the participation of home textile giants like Maspar and Alps, which was earlier not seen. Many exporters were having variety and combination of various techniques, be it printing, embroidery, and handwork for fresh applications, while there were some others who played safe and remained focused on offering only their core strength.
It was the first ever participation at the fair by Maspar and Alps, and both were enthusiastic and keen to add new buyers as they had displayed massive product range. Normally, Maspar every year offers 6 collections and in each collection has two different colours. This time it used dark colours like ruby pink and steeple gray which are more European kind of colours. “We sell our brand overseas also, so we are exploring buyers who will buy the brand and sell at their stores. By being a part of this fair we want to catch those buyers who normally buy from India. We are focusing a lot on our brand, working on it, it will have a pull and business will continue to grow,” said Rajesh Mahajan, MD, Maspar Industries. Having the edge of complete solution in home furnishing products, the company is offering home products for kids also. It is in the process of opening more stores in India along with the efforts to increase the export basket as well.
Similarly, Alps Industries displayed five distinct ranges of products including summer as well as winter story which had a lot of handwork, digital prints on velvet and slub fabric. The company is already doing well in curtains and is now looking at more business from cushion, quilts and bedding products. Reenu Bansal, DGM (Marketing), Alps Industries said, “We have highlighted ethnic designs and handmade quilts. Handwork is one of the main reasons for buyers to prefer India, especially in cushions. In prints, I have noticed that digital printing is more in demand compared to screen printing.”
Not only the bigger ones, even medium size companies are trying to offer a huge product range so that they can cater to every need of the buyer and catch more and more orders. Kabra Exports, Delhi has developed a complete product range in a story theme with extensive use of chicken work, sujani, aari embroidery and bead work. Combination of colourful embroidery and screen print on the same cushion was an attraction at the company’s booth. “It is not only innovative, but even 30 per cent cheaper. To attract the buyers we are continuously trying to offer new and fresh concepts in reasonable range,” said B K Kabra, Director, Kabra Exports. On the other side of the coin, there were few players showcasing only those techniques which are their core strength, rather than trying to offer something different like Indian Ocean, Noida, which plays around with only prints and nothing in embroidery. Following the ‘marine’ theme for the season Rajesh Dhir, Proprietor, Indian Ocean shares, “Along with market look, our own niche look is also important and we concentrate on that. We are basically focusing on different kinds of prints in screen and hand, we don’t do embroidery as it is not our strength, we work with mostly European retailers who play safe and pick neutral kinds of things.” The company has started manufacturing storage boxes recently.
- Most of the participants of the home furnishing segment were catering to the European markets.
- Few companies are expanding their capacity and product range like Laxmi Exports, Jaipur, which will soon start rug manufacturing also.
- Majority of the exporters were agreeing to take orders of even 50 pieces with few terms and conditions.
Also concentrating on its core strength was Shivam Exports, Panipat that manufactures shaggy, hand knit cushions. Already doing well in the European market the company is now going for BSCI certification so it can tap the US market also. A high-end product, linen was also used in its cushions. Unique Collection, Moradabad used only chain stitch embroidery as a value add, with no hint of printing, as it is cheapest embroidery and has been developed as the company’s USP while in curtains its focus was completely on net fabric.
Apart from various kinds of cotton cushion covers, leather products was also a point of attraction for buyers and Panache (India) International, Delhi was strongly present in this segment as it deals only in leather cushions. Till now it was using mainly hair-on leather with embroidery, thread work, appliqué, but now it is focusing on suede leather also. “Suede leather is 35 per cent cheaper than hair-on and its smoother base is more appealing, as some people are apprehensive about the hair and it is not that smooth to touch. In suede, one can have any colour so we are also using it now,” shares Akanksha and Sanchay Khokka of Panache (India) International.
