Interview with Vipin Sethi
Vipin Sethi
Director
Fashion Matrix Overseas
Director
Fashion Matrix Overseas
We want to develop a brand around the concept of being green
Fashion Matrix Overseas (FMO), a Bengaluru-based manufacturer and supplier of high fashion apparel launched its new venture ENVS Eco-friendly Digital Fabrics India Pvt Ltd (ENVS) in January. As part of the launch event, the company demonstrated its state-of-the-art production technology supplied by Kornit Digital. ENVS will be relying on Kornit's Allegro for digitally printing on-roll fabrics and on an Avalanche 1000 for direct-to-garment printing. FMO Director Vipin Sethi spoke to Subir Ghosh about the company's new initiative that intends adding a new dimension to garment customisation through its portal.
Let's start at the beginning. What's the story behind Fashion Matrix Overseas (FMO)?
I entered the industry in 1996 after completing my business training. I worked for an export house for about seven years. She (Seema Sethi, who is my business partner and sister) joined me in 2001; we worked in the same company. In 2003, one of our customers gave us the encouragement to move on our own. That's how Fashion Matrix Overseas (FMO) came into existence. When we left, all our customers moved with us and wanted to continue working with us. They moved with us despite the fact that initially we had no office or factory. But they had a lot of trust in us, and wanted to do business with us. The first one year we managed working from the basement of our residence (here in Bengaluru), and in 2004 we started a 3,000 sq ft office. God was kind and things went well. In 2006, we built up an area of 30,000 sq ft (in Peenya), and we started our first garmenting factory in January 2007. Till 2006, we had been shirt suppliers. We saw that the business of shirts was slowly moving to Bangladesh, which was a much cheaper destination. It was a stroke of luck in 2006 that a customer of ours was having some trouble with a Delhi supplier. So, she wanted to do some styles (with us) that were new to us. We took up the order as a challenge, and delivered the product in time. Those were typical high fashion ladies styles, which is essentially the forte of Delhi, and not normally produced in Bengaluru. The customer was happy, and started working with us in a big way. That was the transition of FMO from being a men's-only supplier to a primarily women's supplier.
In 2010, we ventured into a very niche market: Bavarian garments, which are mostly worn in the countryside of Southern Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. It is a very specialised garment; it required a lot of skill and learning. We had to convince a customer to give us a sample. We duplicated the sample and returned it to him. He was satisfied and started placing small orders of a few hundred pieces with us. As he started having confidence in our quality, he started increasing the quantities. Today, we produce about 200,000 pieces every season. Now, customers search for us, and come to us. We now offer an entire package.
Who are you doing this for?
We are producing for one of the biggest labels in the Bavarian region called Stockerpoint. We are also working with a lot of other labels. We now offer them a complete package. We not only offer dresses, but also trousers, blouses, shirts, t-shirts, sweaters, among other things. The sweaters are made at our unit in Ludhiana, and meant for the Bavarian region. That (Bavarian dresses) is our niche segment. We have a monopoly in that segment, and have developed our own skills over the years after a lot of mistakes.
What were these mistakes?
Initially, the fittings take a lot of time. Then people ask for different kinds of embellishments on the garments. At times, customers want specific kinds of laces that have never even been seen in India. Even Chinese suppliers have not been able to make those laces. Now, we make most of them (laces) here. At this point in time we can say with confidence that if there are challenges in the Bavarian segment, we can definitely overcome them and deliver to the customer. The customers have confidence in us, and that is why they keep coming back to us.
So, the Bavarian dresses are your USP.
Yes, they are. We want customers in the Bavarian to look at FMO as a onestop destination for everything.
Who do you get your feedback from, the brands or the end-user?
We get feedback from brands.
Now, about this new venture ENVS.
We all live on this planet. We all have the right to clean soil, water and air. It is everybody's responsibility to go green, and give future generations a clean planet to live in. So, the reason we chose Kornit Digital is that they are eco-friendly. I could have purchased ten digital machines at the cost of one Kornit machine. But with those machines I cannot be eco-friendly. We want to develop a brand around the concept of being green, and we would want to serve those customers who are conscious about it. We would like to look at a niche market where people are conscious about contributing to a cleaner planet. Kornit is the only company in the world that offers ecofriendly inks.
What is ENVS going to do that FMO already doesn't?
We have tied up with Kornit for the backend technology, and with IBM for the frontend. IBM will be managing our portal. We plan to subscribe to a lot of international journals which forecast prints and designs for the next season. We will upload the designs that we buy from them onto our website. To begin with, we will be uploading close to 50,000 prints, and we will be refreshing them every month. We want to introduce concepts called fabric-ondemand and fashion-on-demand. We want customers to express their individuality. When a customer logs on to our portal, s/he will be offered a huge number of designs, and will be able to interact with the site. S/ he can choose the design first, and then the fabric too, be it cotton, silk or polyester, etc. We will be offering a range of fabrics on which the customer would want the design to be printed on. We will print the desired length/quantity and ship it to him/ her. This has a potential in both the B2B and B2C segments. In the B2B segment, we will tie up with some furnishing and furniture companies, for instance. They can have bespoke furnishing or furniture for their own customers, ranging from blankets and curtains to cushion covers and pillow covers. There is also a huge space in the children's segment as well as lingerie. The garments/fabric would be eco-friendly and pass all tests prescribed for children's clothing. The same reasons would apply to intimatewear as well.
When do you plan to go live?
We plan to go online in May or June, depending on how fast IBM is able to put things together. The backend is now ready. We will have time till May/June to sort out all the teething issues. We will be ordering another Kornit machine. Once we are online, we cannot afford to have any downtime. It will not only increase my capacity, but also have a backup ready. You cannot tell your customer that you cannot deliver since the machine is out of order. Once you fail to deliver, you lose face, and the cascading effect starts. So, despite the fact that it is a huge investment, I do not want to take chances.
Given this customisation bit, what is also true is that virtual fitting rooms, for instance, have not really taken off. How do you react to that? By and large, the technology had been expensive. Yet, a concept called 'Try on' is available at the Indiranagar (Bengaluru) showroom of Louis Philippe wherein a customer can stand in front of the magic mirror and actually see the shirt on him. That technology is available at an affordable price now. So, this will slowly become popular. Moreover, this technology was mostly available in countries like Italy or Germany.
How do you see the concept of customisation shaping up in the future (vis-a-vis ENVS)? Will it be hot?
No, not immediately. It would all depend on how we advertise ourselves. We have to make ourselves known among the target audience. But for sure, customisation has a great scope in the future. Everybody wants to look different. People can buy/wear what they want, and not what is offered to them. Currently, you may like a particular print, but it may not be available in the style you want. But now you can get around that issue by getting both the print and style that you want. And size too.
What kinds of fabric would you be placing on offer?
In cotton, we will be going in for organic. Silk, by itself, is organic. We will be offering viscose, etc, as well. Moreover, we will also be looking at the bags and shoes market, since this machine can print on those surfaces as well. It can print on PU and rexin fabrics too.
Fast fashion?
No, I wouldn't call that fast fashion. Talking of fast fashion, and I don't want to name anyone here, there are brands that offer very cheap products and they are not eco-sensitive. They talk big about being sociallycompliant, but the same brands produce garments which are not ecofriendly, and the garments… how are they disposed of? As it is, they are not eco-friendly or biodegradable.
So, will you source recycled textiles?
Yes, we are already in conversation with some mills (mostly in the North) that use recycled polyester. In the South, you get a lot of organic cotton. But here we have to be careful. The cotton can be organic, but when you give it for dyeing, it would end up with a lot of chemicals. So, how would that remain organic?
You talk about compliance issues. What kind of certifications do you have?
We have SA 8000 from Social Accountability International for our European customers, and Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) for the benefit of US clients. And now we have applied for GOTS certification as well. The Kornit machines themselves are pre-certified by GOTS. We should be getting it soon.
Coming to your products, how expensive are your garments going to be?
Our products are not going to be cheap. A shirt, for example, would be in the range of ₹2,500. In any case, we are not expecting a boom the day we launch our portal. We would slowly like to grow our customer base, who want to be eco- friendly. We will have a whole gamut of products from shirts and t-shirts to blouses and evening gowns.
What about your existing business (i.e. FMO)?
We have about 8-10 clients and we do a sizeable business with them. I only look at the bottomline: am I making a product that is profitable, or am I just serving the client? There are a lot of companies that concentrate only on the turnover. We don't want to get into that kind of rat race. We want to remain in a niche segment, supply high quality products to our customers, and take a price for that.
What about your financials?
Last year, we closed at a turnover of about ₹50 crore. This year, we are looking at ₹75 crore. About 90 per cent of our turnover is from exports. At one point, we were serving a lot of domestic clients. But we are not happy with the domestic segment. Many domestic brands have still not evolved, according to me. They expect a lot of things that are realistically not possible. We prefer our customers to be flexible and understanding.
Is that why you are going solo?
Yes. I don't want to be supplying to domestic brands. I want to create my own space. Yes, it is going to be a daunting experience and a challenging task.
How long did it take you from the conceptualisation to execution of this project?
I had contacted Kornit in 2014, and wanted to buy a machine. I know a Kornit printer was 10 times more expensive than a usual one. But at that time they were not supplying in India. I happened to get in touch with them again in September 2016. They said they were still not supplying in India, but if I were keen, then they would work on it. I wanted to buy both the machines (in all costing about $1 million). I signed the deal with them on October 11, and just three months later, the machines are here- installed, and ready to roll.
Published on: 31/03/2017
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.