Interview

Chances are that as you read thisopening sentence, the t-shirt, dress or shirt brand you are wearing could havebeen designed and manufactured at one of the worldwide units of high-streetsupplier, and manufacturing and sourcing firm PDS Multinational. Spearheaded bythe young and dynamic Pallak Seth (vice-chairman and founder), the HongKong-headquartered $1billion (FY 17-18) group designs and supplies apparel,among other fashion categories, to many of the world's leading brands andretailers. But...

When he was a child, he did not know from where he would get his first and only meal ofthe day. He lost his father at the tender age of seven. The struggles continuedand after almost 18 years of working as a CAD designer he gave in to a daringthought gnawing his mind - design a machine that could control the fabric bothin reverse and forward while doing the embroidery and with the same tension. Heapproached some Swiss companies. But there was no response. China told him thatwhat he had in mind...

Giovanna Furlanetto is the president of Furla, one of the major players in the world leather goods market, toting an annual turnover of more than €200 million. In the 1970s, along with her brothers Carlo and Paolo, she took over from her father Aldo who founded the company in 1927. Together they began to produce a Furla brand collection, pursuing a focused expansion plan for the firm’s distribution network, that today counts 328 single-brand boutiques in 91 countries and a distribution network...

From studying hotel management to leather, how did this dramatic transition happen? When I entered this business I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. Thankfully, through several unsuccessful experiences and great mentors, I discovered an interest in leather and international trade. I learnt the ropes at two tanneries and joined the Netherlands-based Van Hoorn Trading. When I started looking after their India operations I had no finance but gradually got into an open contract. Senate...

Kishore Biyani got his start in the fashion business in college when he sold 200 meters of stonewashed fabric to shops in Mumbai. Some years later his entrepreneurial instinct led him to launch a brand of fabric for men’s trousers–WBB or simply White, Blue and Brown–an abbreviation of the three most popular colors for trousers then. WBB lived its life and in 1985 he drew his first blood in retail when he set up a 400-sq.-foot (37-sq.- meter) shop to sell readymade trousers for men. Later, Biyani...

LANDOUR, I am told, is where Mussoorie's most acclaimed resident lives. I decide to walk up the Mall and to Landour beyond. The shops at the Mall are tempting and, as I mull over a red-bordered black woollen cap, a chic sardarni gives me the exact location to where Ruskin Bond lives. Bobby, who runs a hotel and a prosperous shop, even offers to take me half-way up as she is headed in the same direction. Grateful at having been spared quite a walk, I hop off and proceed to Ivy Cottage. Huff-puff...