What do you do when you are a huge fan of one of the biggest icons in the country? Well, if you are a certain Ravi Modi, you dress him in your best designs for the whole world to see! Yes, that’s the fanboy story behind the Manyavar ads that are all over our screens and papers these days. t2 caught up with the 39-year-old Xaverian who started Manyavar just out of college in 1999 because he wanted to do something other than run the family’s apparel business in AC Market. 

The last time you spoke to t2, you said Virat Kohli is your favourite cricketer…. Well, now the whole country knows he’s your favourite!

(Smiles) We made our brand name ‘Manyavar’ because it is about ‘earn your respect’, and what Virat has done is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. The most important values that we believe in at Manyavar are, I think, present in Virat…. 

So, was signing Kohli as brand ambassador a fanboy moment?

See, we don’t believe in the concept of ‘brand ambassador’. Because it was a fan moment, we signed him. Because he is larger than life. He has really inspired us. And he’s had a big impact on our business too. 

What is the ‘Virat impact’?

Well, we’ve had customers come into our stores with pictures of the Virat Kohli ads, asking for the clothes he has modelled! He wore 10 outfits for us, ranging from sherwani to kurta-pyjama to Indo-western... and those have become a sort of ‘Virat collection’! Every outfit that he wore for us has become superhit and are in short supply, such was the  demand for them... even for a sherwani with a price tag of Rs 26,000! Children too want to wear the clothes he wore for us. So, yes, he has had a huge positive impact for us. We started our Virat ads in October and we’ve seen sales jump by 25 to 30 per cent.

Hasn’t your business been affected by demonetisation?

Not at all. The only effect is we have decided not to produce black clothes (laughs). We were very surprised. We have stores in 150 cities but only on the two days after November 8, business was down, it was the shock effect. From November 11 onwards, business was back to normal. I think it was also the Virat Kohli impact.... We were 61 per cent credit card, then we became 98 per cent credit card, but business was as usual. 

What was your vision when you started Manyavar?

There was no vision... that developed gradually. We started out by supplying to MBOs (multi-brand outlets), then we supplied to the large-format stores, we started opening our own stores in 2008. Now we have about 400 stores.
Recently we launched our women’s wear line. It’s called Mohey. After respect what is most important is love. So we named it Mohey. Now the vision is to own the happiness-celebration zone in the apparel industry. 

Do you have a dream brand ambassador for Mohey as well?

As I told you, we don’t really believe in the brand ambassador concept. We were really influenced by Virat Kohli, by his achievements.    

You are one of the few business success stories of Bengal in present times. What do you think you did right? 

I think we chose the category well. There was a huge vacuum, so we have evolved with this category. We had faith in India and Indian wear, we feel that it is here to stay and it will grow in times to come. Now we want to take it forward globally. We have stores in Dubai, Sharjah, Nepal, Bangladesh, US. 

We take pride in the fact that we don’t offer any discount. We feel the concept cheats your loyal customers — offering something for Rs 1,000 and then at Rs 500 to others, we don’t believe in that. In spite of that, our dead stock is less than two per cent. We track customer demands very efficiently, with data, technology, analytics — the idea is not to push anything to the customer, rather to study nationally and geographically what is required. 

We believe in time management, our office works only 10am to 7pm, we have not worked overtime in our entire career. Efficiency increases productivity. There’s a lot of emphasis on efficiency, size of store, merchandise management, manpower numbers. My wife (Shilpi) is also heavily involved in the business. 

You mentioned a vacuum in the market….

I can define it in one line — we democratised aristocracy. Ethnic wear was looked at as apparel for only the rich. Woh jo raja-maharaja wala wear tha, that came to the upper class only. It was too expensive for the middle class. We made it affordable. The biggest advantage with Manyavar was its pricing. We introduced kurta-pyjama from 
Rs 1,000, we introduced sherwanis from Rs 5,000-6,000. Previously you would get sherwanis for Rs 30,000-plus. We actually created this market for the entire nation. When we entered Kerala, Tamil Nadu, it was a struggle… we took two or three years just to get our first orders…. Today, out of our top five markets, three are in south India.

We often hear about the negatives of doing business in Calcutta. What are the positives?

I love Calcutta. I have travelled across the globe but somehow I think I want to live my entire life in Calcutta. By God’s grace we haven’t faced any negativity till date. We don’t know a single police officer, we don’t know a single politician… life has been pretty smooth. 

In our kind of business, manpower and space are very important. And for both, Calcutta is still a very good place. The quality of embroidery karigars is the best in the world in and around Calcutta. Real estate has also played a crucial part. It’s still affordable in Calcutta.

Your brand is now very visible, whether one goes to watch a movie, an IPL match, a literary meet or a New Year’s Eve party… 

It’s very simple. It’s about celebration. Anything that is not serious, we want to be there. We want to associate with people’s happiness and celebrations. Anywhere you are happy, we’ll be there. 

Before Manyavar, where did you buy your kurtas?

That is what I’m saying... this category only hadn’t developed. So I didn’t wear kurta-pyjamas then!

And now that you have 400 stores, where do you shop for kurtas?

I prefer going to my Park Street store. On many occasions we also display our lines at the head office before festivals and I pick up from here as well.

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MANYAVAR: AT A GLANCE

• Started in: 1999
• Outlets in India: 400
• Outlets outside India: 15
• Countries Manyavar is present: Six (US, Dubai, Sharjah, Nepal, Bangladesh, India). 
• Annual turnover: Rs 700cr
• Annual growth: 30-35 per cent

ON SIGNING VIRAT KOHLI

We don’t believe in the concept of ‘brand ambassador’. Because it was a fan moment, we signed Virat Kohli. Because he is larger than life. He has really inspired us. The most important values that we believe in at Manyavar are, I think, present in Virat…. 

SNAPCHAT

The best-dressed celeb in India right now? 

I would say even today it’s Amitabh Bachchan. He can carry anything well. Among the youngsters, I’d say Virat Kohli.  

Your favourite city outside India to shop?

London. I pick up watches, shoes, clothing, accessories. Brands would be Burberry, Armani, Gucci… 

A city outside India where you wish to have an outlet?

In the next three years, we will have 50 stores outside India. Everywhere you could imagine, there will be a Manyavar outlet. 

Including London?

Hundred per cent! One store would definitely be in and around Oxford Street and the second would be in an Indian locality, a Southall kind of location. 

The last fashion item you bought?

Shoes from LV (Louis Vuitton).

What would be the title of your autobiography?

Love, Respect and Peace. 

 

What does Virat Kohli look best in.... Tell t2@abp.in