10 minute read
Perfectly suited: Kachins Couture
Tailored for perfection
Left-right: Anil, Ashok and Ravi Ramchandani
Dubai-based Kachins Couture has completed over 40 years in the menswear tailoring business. Secondgeneration family member Anil Ramchandani, director of business development, is playing a key role in determining its future course
BY VARUN GODINHO
What was Dubai’s menswear tailoring market like when your father Ashok Ramchandani established Kachins Couture in 1981? In the 1980s, menswear tailoring was emerging in the UAE. There were only fourfive stores that provided tailoring services for men in Dubai. My father established our first store in the heart of Bur Dubai, and it still exists today. Some of his early clients included Emirates Airline, Coca-Cola, Juma Al Majid, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and many five-star hotels that placed their uniform orders with us.
At what point did Kachins transition from a small-scale business to a larger operation? In 1989, Kachins evolved from a single 690 sq ft store offering only bespoke tailoring services to a two-storey 3,000 sq ft store offering a one-stop-shop for bespoke tailoring and fabrics under one roof. My father expanded the existing store, and also acquired two more next to it. It made Kachins a prime shopping location for men and women. This is also when he launched the first designer boutique for women. Kachins Group currently employs 140 employees across our five showrooms and factory. At present, our volume stands in the range of 8,000-10,000 suits and shirts per annum.
Tell us about the fabrics used and the expertise of the tailors currently employed. We have collaborated with many renowned European fabric brands and mills. Some of the brands we offer include – but are not limited to – Scabal, Holland & Sherry, Cerruti, Huddersfield Worsted, Thomas Mason and Monti. Our tailors have been working with us for decades now. The years of experience and practice allows us to provide our clients with a high level of quality and workmanship.
What is the range of services that Kachins currently offers? We offer a complete range of products and services ranging from ready-to-wear shirts to fully-canvassed bespoke suits. The steps [to create a bespoke suit] involve an initial consultation where a client is introduced to our services and where they sample the wide range of available fabrics. They are then introduced to the master cutter who uses his measuring methods to learn about the client’s posture and considers how best to accentuate their features. Next, be it your jacket, shirt, waistcoat, trousers, or shorts, this is the point where clients can customise every little detail with a variety of options such as thread colours, linings, buttons, designs, and cuts. The next stage is fittings where a roughly-stitched suit is put together so the master can see how well it
“My father expanded the existing store, and also acquired two more next to it. It made Kachins a prime shopping location for men and women. Kachins Group currently employs 140 employees across our five showrooms and factory. At present, our volume stands in the range of 8,000-10,000 suits and shirts per annum”
works on the client. Alterations are made and a second fitting is decided accordingly. Our service doesn’t stop once the delivery is done. A team member will be in touch with the client after a few weeks to ensure the suit is fitting well and to find out if there are any alterations required. Moreover, on successful completion and delivery of your garments, the client’s measurements and specifications are permanently stored in our system for future reference. This helps us minimise the lead time for repeat orders. We also offer door-to-door services where clients can enjoy our bespoke tailoring services from the comfort of their home or their office. If necessary, a client can even get his suits as quickly as three days when he places an order for urgent delivery.
Apart from tailoring, shoes are another significant component of your business. Tell us about it. We do provide a range of ready-to-wear shoes as well as custom-made shoes where a client can set up an appointment and create a pair of shoes from scratch, and style it exactly how they want to. It’s a similar process to making a suit. Shoes have had an immense growth in demand over the past few years. We’ve been bringing in genuine bespoke shoes from Italy and Spain to fulfil this segment in our business.
You will be launching an e-commerce platform this year. What are some of your expectations from it? This website will be our gateway to markets we haven’t been able to reach yet. Many of our clients who visit us from around the world have been unable to reach us due to travel restrictions or faced difficulties due to the pandemic. This platform will help us cater to them in a bigger and better way. We aim to establish Kachins in markets around the world and this will be our gateway to it.
What are your expansion plans? This year, we have a few stores already in the pipeline, one of which will be our first international store outside the UAE. We have been looking into expanding in the GCC region for a while now. Covid19, of course, was one of the reasons we haven’t been able to execute this yet. But I do believe this will be our year to finally get back out there and see Kachins expand internationally. We aim to have at least five stores overseas by the end of next year.
What are the advantages of working within a family-owned business setup? The best part about having a family business is the support system that comes with it. Be it a new project or a difficulty you’re facing, we always support each other. Growing up with this business, I’ve not only learned from my father, but also from my siblings, Ravi and Neetu, who are a big part of the organisation. They’ve been involved in the business much longer than I have and when I joined, they supported and guided me.
Yes, there are definitely times where we have a conflict of interest or approach that we all can’t agree upon, but this doesn’t stop us from working well together. We’ve always respected each other’s decisions and moved ahead, treating it as an experiment, with its failure and success, contributing to our learning curve.
A clear vision
Andrea Zaffin, managing director of Safilo Middle East and commercial head IMEA, outlines his strategy to take the company’s eyewear business to the next level
BY VARUN GODINHO
Give us a business overview of Safilo’s operations. Safilo Group began in Italy in 1878 with its first eyewear and optical frames production facility. Today, we are one of the major players in the design, production and distribution of sunglasses, optical frames, and sports glasses.
Our brand portfolio is made of iconic eyewear brands such as Carrera, Polaroid, Smith owned by Safilo, as well as licenced brands including BOSS, Carolina Herrera, David Beckham, Dsquared2, Isabel Marant, Jimmy Choo, Kate Spade New York, Levi’s, Marc Jacobs, Missoni, Moschino, Tommy Hilfiger and Under Armour.
Safilo has been present in this region with its brands for decades, working with local partners and retailers. In 2014, we localised our commercial hub for the Middle East in Dubai and opened a fullyowned subsidiary with a state-of-the-art showroom in order to be close to our clients in the region and provide the full range of our latest collections.
Last year, has been a strong year for us in the region not only in terms of numbers (top line and bottom line exceeded 2019), but also in terms of relationships and projects. For instance, we introduced a special-edition Carrera for Dubai and Jimmy Choo Middle East capsule collection; we also launched a special collaboration with Carrera as the official eyewear partner of the 1000Miglia race which will happen in 2022 in UAE.
Has your approach to business changed over the last two decades that you’ve worked in Dubai? It has been 22 years since I arrived in Dubai. This might seem like a cliché, but my approach has been always to work as a partner with our clients. However, establishing long-term alliances is not so obvious and being able to succeed in managing 15-20-year-long relationships requires much more than just ‘doing business’. It needs mutual respect and passion for building the business together.
Andrea Zaffin, managing director of Safilo Middle East For me, the ultimate achievement is actually looking back and seeing the result of such a journey, both on a professional and personal level.
How has the eyewear distribution model evolved and where is it headed? The eyewear industry is pretty peculiar. We do two categories: sunglasses and optical frames. They seem pretty much the same, but they are very different. Sunglasses are not only functional to protect from the sun but are also fashion accessories driven by fashion trends, whereas optical frames are clearly more functional with more medical/technical service involved
(such as eye testing and lens prescription, for example). In the early years in this region, I remember the focus was very much on newness and big brands because 80 per cent of the market was driven by sunglasses refl ecting trends seen in the fashion industry.
Newness and big names are still very important in the sunglass category. However, in the past few years, optical frames has been the category leading the growth. The attention to eye wellness and a generally wider acceptance of optical frames is certainly lending a strong momentum to this category.
Today, this region is defi nitely leading internationally in terms of its retail o ering. We have among the most beautiful optical stores in the world thanks to investment by local retail groups. All major eyewear and lens manufacturers now have a direct presence in Dubai with local o ces and teams. It’s clear that this has raised the bar for the entire industry, with the consumer benefi tting from it.
Consumers, especially the younger generation, are now moving towards mid-price products. Today, it’s key to have a balanced o ering and Safi lo does so with brands such as Tommy Hilfi ger, Carrera, Levi’s and Under Armour, to name a few.
Tell us about the Carrera collection that was recently created for Dubai. The special edition Carrera for Dubai is a very important project to me – it honours the city and people of Dubai. It’s a project we are very proud and honoured to have launched in partnership with Dubai Tourism. It is a special-edition collection, featuring one of our iconic styles, the Safari 65, with Carrera for Dubai co-branding on the lens and temple.
The Carrera for Dubai collection
What role will e-commerce play in Safi lo’s model? When we talk about online sales, we refer mainly to sunglasses (even though the online market for optical glasses is growing). The question is not “if” but “how” to evolve the retail proposition while integrating digital tools. I believe consumers will still pay a premium if the physical retail o ering remains relevant and delivers a valuable service proposition. We need to evolve with an omnichannel approach – digital tools can help us in improving our service, allowing us to work in synergy with our customers and consumers all over the world, both online and o ine.
What are the key targets that you’ve set for this year? In 2022, we aim to deliver another strong year focusing on our Carrera and Polaroid collection, our core licences as well as the launch of four new brands (Carolina Herrera, Under Armour, Dsquared2, Chiara Ferragni Collection). We will continue to build on our optical o erings providing an assortment in line with our clients’ needs. The key objective is to support our partners with a clear calendar of activations for our brands in the region, as well as focusing on service levels and a ter-sales. In 2022, we will increase focus and investment on our new B2B online platform.
