Our products are sold by choice and not by compulsion
Jaipur Rugs is an Indian company that combines the pursuit of profit with the spreading of kindness, with the aim of benefiting all the people sitting around its rugs: customers, artisans, local communities, employees, suppliers, buyers and partners. Through its worldwide distribution network, its rugs reach more than 60 countries around the world, from Milan to Paris, Beijing and Moscow. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Jaipur Rugs Director Yogesh Chaudhary discusses the carpet market in India and abroad.
How would you describe the demand for carpets in India? Has the outlook changed in the last decade?
According to global carpets & rugs markets analysis 2021, the demand for carpets and rugs in India is forecast to grow 5.9 per cent per year for the next few years. There are many elements like urbanisation, rising construction, rapid growth in base of the middle-class population, lifestyle changes, and increased spending on home furnishings and interiors, which are driving the demand of carpets and rugs in India.
What sort of materials, colours, designs, and sizes are in trend?
Material - jute, cotton, wool, hemp, viscose and bamboo silk.
Colours - light turquoise with lime green, blue blush with green glacier or shell coral with tabasco. Our most popular are, of course, a more muted colour combination of pearl and skyline blue, as well as caramel and leather brown.
Designs - From mixing bright and bold contrasting colours to fiery red tones, geometrics and intricate patterns.
Sizes – 6x9, 8x10, 5x8, 4x6 – depends on the market demand.
Which are your major markets in India and abroad?
In India, our major markets are Jaipur, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Kanpur. Besides metros, we are witnessing demand in cities like Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Nagpur, Pune, etc. And with the advent of online, the lines between the states have blurred. Families with high disposable income across the country now majorly want to invest in their homes.
Apart from this, we export to over 80 countries both online and offline. We have stores in Italy (Milan), Russia (Samara) and US (Atlanta) with the US and Europe as our biggest markets.
After opening stores in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi, where next do you plan to expand in India and abroad?
We have one store each in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and two in Jaipur. We have just ventured into the heart of southern India by opening a franchise store in Chennai. We are scouting new locations both domestic and overseas in different geographies.
How is the response from your online store? Are Indian consumers warming up to the idea of shopping for carpets online? Can you share some figures?
Our products are sold by choice and not by compulsion. In India, people are warming up to the idea of buying rugs online and currently online contributes approximately six per cent of our total sales.
Please tell us about the Brahmaand collection. How many weavers are working on it and where will it be showcased?
Inspired by a series of original watercolour paintings by designer Ashiesh Shah, the Brahmaand collection by Jaipur Rugs turns humankind’s ceaseless search for cosmic relevance and age-old questions of greater designs into thought-provoking visual art with an inventive line of luxurious hand-knotted carpets.
With the careful processes of picking, hand-carding and the spinning of wool into fine yarn, its meticulous weaving into rugs by skilled Indian artisans, and more than 18 finishing processes, ensure the highest quality.
‘Brahmaand’ paints a picture of the infinite universe in living spaces. The forms of the rugs are rather organic and draw inspiration from the ancient geometry of India, the cosmos and the architecture of the ‘Jantar Mantar’. The collection features four rugs titled Nakshatra, Manthan, Dwaar and Chanda.
The entire Brahmaand collection including the Brahmaand Manchaha and Brahmaand Freedom Manchaha collection was weaved in Manpura village and in some jails of Rajasthan. We launched and showcased this collection in recently concluded event Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy.
How do you incorporate sustainability into your operations and products?
The rug industry globally is losing billions of dollars in wasted yarn. Surplus yarn is either incinerated or goes straight to landfill. An initiative by Jaipur Rugs called Manchaha is a step towards reusing the millions of sq metres of waste into a fun product.
Manchaha rugs are made using hand-spun leftover yarn batches. These batches are basically waste left after the weaving is done. The yarn is in such small quantities that it cannot be reused as part of another regular rug. These small unusable batches of yarn are packed in sacks and sent to weavers for them to pick whatever they like for their Manchaha rugs. This helps reduce wastage that had no solution and makes the colour palette of these rugs as unique as their design. It is a remarkable example of sustainable production – reusing and revival from waste, the problem becoming its own solution.
Change is always ground up. If we do not work to uphold the dignity of the art and its artists, then we won’t be able to achieve the sustainability goals we aspire to. With Manchaha we are able to provide a platform for them to take their art to the world leading to their socioeconomic transformation.
The Manchaha project is also a great tool against patriarchy as it puts regular and sustainable income directly into the hands of the women (over 85 per cent of artisans working with Jaipur Rugs are women). Additionally, women weavers are getting a lot of recognition on the world stage uplifting their social status in their communities.
As the women become earning members of the family, they slowly but surely rise in status and get a voice that they can use for their own transformation. The exposure that some women are gaining by winning awards and travelling across the world to receive them is transforming their lives. It is also aspiring other weavers to follow in their footsteps.
What are the goals set for the next two years? What new is in the pipeline?
We want to be a ₹1000 crore company by the end of this fiscal and be recognised as a truly global Indian brand. We are also looking to expand our retail presence both in domestic and international markets.
Published on: 22/07/2022
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
