The 100-year-old bespoke suit specialist also launched its new women’s wear line-up of garments
Bengaluru: Bengaluru-based men’s fashion brand PN Rao has celebrated its centennial year and presented a glimpse of its newly launched women’s wear line-up of garments. The event was held at ITC Gardenia, Ashok Nagar, Bengaluru on 25 May.
“Year 2023 is a significant year for P N Rao for it marks the centennial year of the brand and more so today as it coincides with the 120th birth anniversary of our great founder Pishe Narayan Rao,” said Ketan Pishe, partner, P N Rao during a media round table.
“As we prepare for the next 100 years with renewed spirit and vigour and strengthen our partnership with the global fabrics manufacturers, we aim to further consolidate our leadership position in the segment,” he added.
The round table witnessed industry leaders in fabrics sharing their perspectives on how the ever-changing space of fashion is dictating the luxury fabrics segment, globally and in India.
“India is demanding more finer and luxurious clothes and we are also working hard to meet those demands from the global and Indian consumer perspective, which is becoming more demanding and more curious to know about the whole process – from the raw materials stage to the finished products stage. The demand is certainly there, but for higher quality materials,” said Neil Hart, global sales director at Scabal, a Belgian textile company.
According to Bob McAuley, president of HMS International (parent company of fabric manufacturer Huddersfield Fine Worsteds), ”India with a population of 1.4 billion is an aspirational market for all the fabric manufacturers but the needs and requirements are very different. The luxury segment is growing at a very rapid pace and hence the brands like us are ready to customize our product in accordance to the country’s requirements.”
Richard Boide, managing director of Dormeuil, a French textile manufacturer, stressed on circular fashion. “An important development that I foresee unfolding in India in future, is that, as more and more people become conscious about the environment, brands that are heavily invested in sustainable and ethical manufacturing processes will benefit, because consumers will increasingly align with brands that have strong sustainability commitments.”
Later in the evening, the company presented its new collection with a fashion show and honored 100 personalities from different categories including business, arts, sports.
P N Rao was established in 1923 with a 100 sq ft tailoring and retail unit in Bengaluru. By the 1940s, the Pishe family had begun tailoring suits and dresses for officers and women of the erstwhile British Raj, and in the 1950s the company fully transitioned into creating made-to-measure men’s suits. In March 2023 the company announced its re-entry to women’s wear after almost a century. Read more about it here.
Currently, the company operates seven flagship stores spread across Bengaluru and Chennai and a manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Bengaluru at Hosakote.
