Cashmere savvy

FASHION: Pashma grows up in India with a second store.

As I approach cashmere fashion brand Pashma's exclusive store in Delhi that opened earlier this year, the sunny-sultry weather makes me wonder. It's the wrong time of year to check out luxury woollen weaves, isn't it? Only that the store is not just for those looking to avoid the shivers.

Rather, along with pure cashmere, it sports a variety of innovative weaves of cashmere blended with silks, or teemed with chiffon and organza for ready-to-wear that's appropriate for mild and air-conditioned environments, apart from accessories and even linen.

On August 26, Pashma launched its second store in India as a shop-in-shop outlet at fashion house Ffolio in India's most affluent city Bangalore. "Pashma is intrinsic Indian art in contemporary fashion," says Yashodhara Shroff, director, Ffolio.

Shilu Kumar, who conceptualised Pashma in 1998, tells me that the brand retails through 800 outlets like fashion stores and duty free shops across the globe. But its retail presence in India is somewhat late, given the scores of international brands that have already set shop.

Kumar admits the delay in tapping the Indian market, saying that she even lost out on the space that Louis Vuitton now has at Delhi's Oberoi Hotel. "As a luxury brand," she reasons, "we first wanted to create an identity for ourselves in the international market."

Targeted at the domestic Indian luxury brand customer and not just the expat, Pashma ranks among the top five luxury cashmere brands in the world, claims Kumar, the other four being Johnston, Malo, Balantyne and Agnona.

Though the Indian pashmina weave is famous on home ground, Kumar's design cell is much influenced by Italian fashion, blending the Indian weave making innovative textures like cashmere silks for contemporary wear like tops and stoles.

Its range caters to the 29-65-year-old fashion-conscious female. "The cashmere and cashmere-silks drape well, hiding a lot of imperfections," quips Kumar, whose focus is on her blended weaves, and will be launching a cashmere-cotton weave collection for spring/summer 2007.

Her upcoming autumn/winter will sport some men's wear. A home spa range and swimwear range are also due for launch in India this October.

"For this, India will be first," she says. With accessories like stoles in a range from Rs 1,800 to 40,000, and ready-to-wear from Rs 3,500 to 25,000, Kumar says "my luxury brand items are priced a little below the price of silver".

Till 2007, Kumar will be content with two Pashma outlets in India. But she is still weighing the option of setting up standalone stores abroad.

Overall, business lately has been rather good for Kumar. Pashma's turnover was Rs 55 crore in 2005-06, with an expected 18 per cent growth this winter, informs Kumar, who started the business with Rs 1 crore at a fashion show in Milan in 1998.