Indian leather goods manufacturers woo Parisian fashion buyers
The Indian Council for Leather Exports staged a 2-day ‘Buyer Seller Meet’ in Paris on March 9-10 March for 15 producers of leather goods and accessories, footwear and apparel, following on from similar events held recently in Zürich and Warsaw.
The Indian manufacturers presented a selection of their goods to around 30 French buyers at the Palais des Congrès. A total of 62 had pre-registered and among the major groups which attended were Groupe André, La Bagagerie, Repetto, Morgan, and Paris Cuir.
Sanjay Mukherjee of Superhouse Accessories Ltd came to Paris to launch the company’s new leathergoods and bag production—the company has been successfully selling shoes to Europe, France included, for over 10 years. In the words of Mr Mukherjee, the right marketing strategy and tools are the only thing Indian producers now need to perfect in order to consolidate their position in the numerous export markets they are already supplying with quality leather goods.
Mr Udayan Khandelwal, whose father in 1952 founded Eastern General Industries Ltd, specialising in small leather goods and bags, felt that the few but quality contacts he made were a realistic and satisfactory result for this type of confidential event. While a number of the participants had been exhibiting at Midec in Paris the previous week, Mr Khandelwal and a few others were preparing for the next stop on their European trip – Mipel, in Milan.
The buyer/seller event included time to visit Paris’s best known department stores, Le Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Bon Marché and La Samaritaine, all of which have branches in other French cities. The aim was not only to discuss future business but to give the Indian producers an insight into how distribution works in France.
